


Between You and Me

by toffrox33



Series: Will and Nico [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adding more character tags as I go, Angst, Boyfriends, Canon Compliant, Defensive Nico, Dialogue Heavy, Drabbles, Established Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Missing moments from canon, Nico & Annabeth friendship, Nico & Percy friendship, Nico & Reyna fight about the hunt, Nico & The Seven Friendship, Nico & camp half blood friendship, Nico di Angelo has Nightmares, Nightmares, Pre-The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo), Protective Will Solace, References to Depression, Spoilers for TON begin at chapter 18, The Tower of Nero (Trials of Apollo) Spoilers, Three Days in the Infirmary (Percy Jackson), Tower of Nero backstory, Trials of Apollo backstory, Underworld powers, not chronological, probably slow burn, solangelo, will solace backstory, will solace/nico di angelo first kiss, yeah so ten chapters later its def slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 48,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24439096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toffrox33/pseuds/toffrox33
Summary: Conversations between Will Solace and Nico di Angelo. ~Solangelo~ ~hurt/comfort + fluff~"Will was only twelve when, as Camp Half Blood prepared for the fight against Kronos in the Labyrinth, he met Nico di Angelo for the first time."Series of dialogue heavy oneshots taking place at various points throughout the PJO/HoO/ToA series. Canon-compliant. Not chronological.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: Will and Nico [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847725
Comments: 121
Kudos: 381





	1. Prologue

Will was only thirteen when the Battle of Manhattan happened.

Thirteen years old when he was forced to step up as head counsellor completely on the spot, Michael Yew lost in the East River never to return. Percy dragging him away from the rubble so they could find Annabeth. Trembling on the back of the motorcycle as they sped across the city. Relief as he realised that Annabeth at least would be someone he could save. Then the terrible exhaustion and the realisation that he wouldn't have time to think about Michael for many more hours yet.

-

Will was only eleven when he joined Camp Half Blood. After a gruelling five day journey from Austin to Long Island, he and Alber, his satyr keeper, arrived to a sickly pine tree and a bizarre activities director that no on except the Ares kids seemed to like much.

"We train all Apollo kids in the basics of all Dad's disciplines", Michael told him at dinner that first night "but usually a specialty like yours becomes apparent pretty quickly."

Will had only been at Camp a few hours when Apollo claimed him. As they passed the climbing wall on Will's orientation tour, a kid got blasted by lava and Will just instinctively ran to help. His hands moved without thinking - he still wasn't even sure how, but he saved them. Lee Fletcher and the Stoll twins had looked down at him with awe - and in Lee's case, pride - as the golden lyre appeared, shimmering above his head. Will felt a fuzzy glow at the sight of their impressed looks - and a flutter of nervousness.

-

Will was only seven when he met his Dad for the first and only time before arriving at Camp Half Blood.

He was walking home from school with his friend, Casey, only a few houses away from home. Out of nowhere, their neighbours' dog Rosie ran out into the street. Casey screamed when the tyres screeched and the little dog was hit.

Will was only seven but he knew exactly what to do. He took the dog into his arms and Casey watched in horror and fascination as the dog's clearly broken bones somehow mended themselves.

"How did you-" Casey started to say. And then he was there, as if out of thin air. A grown up… or maybe just a teenager… with a mop of blonde hair and sparkling eyes.

"Don't worry about it, kid" The stranger said to Casey. And Will's jaw dropped as Casey's eyes glazed over and she wordlessly turned and walked away.

"Are you a Jedi?" Will asked. The stranger just laughed.

He led Will back home (was that a red Maserati on his Mom's driveway?) and sat down with him at the foot of the driveway. His smile was kind and he explained to Will that healing was a noble duty, that his talent was going to be painful, and dangerous, but that it would be worth it. Will just stared at him in wonder, trying to figure out who in the world this rich, handsome (Jedi?) stranger could be, when his Mom's voice called out "Apollo?"

"Yikes! That's my cue to leave" Apollo winked and by the time Will's mother had joined him on the sidewalk the red Maserati had pulled away.

"I could have sworn…" his mother trailed off, "…but it can't have been."

-

Will was only five when he had his first crush. Playing doctors and nurses with Jack in kindergarten and declaring to the teacher that when he grew up, Jack was going to marry him. His teacher, scandalised, telling him that's not how marriage worked. Other kids laughing. Sitting in alone in the corner during recess and wondering why Jack didn't want to play with him again. Will was only five when his kindergarten teacher outed him to his Mom in a concerned letter he had to take home in his backpack…

He came out properly to her later. Driving back from Camp after the battle. He'd just finished his first full year at Camp, acting as the leading medic through the war against Kronos. It wasn't the tales of dangerous battles or the loss of his siblings he was nervous to tell her about… It was taking a deep breath and whispering "Mom… I think I like boys as well as girls."

His mom smiled at him from the driver's seat and reached over to run a hand through his hair."Well, I already knew that sweetheart, but it was so _brave_ of you to tell me."

-

Will didn't have his first kiss until he was fourteen, sneaking out behind the bushes with one of his Mom's bandmates' kids (they'd both been staying with their parents on tour for Thanksgiving weekend)… but that didn't last very long… it wasn't until he was fifteen that Will fell in love.

-

Will was only twelve when, as Camp Half Blood prepared for the fight against Kronos in the Labyrinth, he met Nico di Angelo for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Welcome! Thanks for reading! A few words from me (Toff) on this story:
> 
> Soooo it's been a pretty long time since I published a fic (check out ff.net for my old, extremely cringey, Harry Potter stuff). What can I say, just can't get Solangelo outta my head. 
> 
> This prologue is basically a loose set up of my Will/Nico headcanon. I always thought of Will as summer-only camper until he and Nico are a thing, but turns out he's in TLH, go figure. So instead in this fic his first winter at camp is *after* the Battle of the Labyrinth, because I like to imagine Will and Nico meeting for the first time after that battle [this will be set up next chapter]. 
> 
> Usually I do try and stick to canon as much as possible, so all headcanons here will be pretty canon compliant (I might have got some dates/ages slightly wrong though). Maybe one day I'll get more creative 🤷♀️ 
> 
> Future chapters will be a lot more detailed than this prologue and won't jump around the timeline in the same way.
> 
> In general this will be a pretty haphazard stitching together of whatever conversations and moments pop into my head. Mostly Will and Nico on their own, but I have some extra ideas floating around that I might pull in as well. 
> 
> Maybe one day if I build up enough stories here I will rearrange them to be a single chronological plot. No promises!


	2. First meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will meets Nico for the first time. Will POV.
> 
> ~Takes place in the final chapters of Battle of the Labyrinth~

_Will_

Will's hands were trembling as he stood at the entrance to the armoury, his arms stacked with full quivers. Kayla came out of the door after him with about fifteen bows slung over her shoulders.

Kayla's expression was grim. It was only her first summer at Camp but she didn't look nearly as terrified as Will felt. "You alright?" She asked him. Will stumbled slightly on their way across the green between the cabins, to where the rest of the Apollo campers were setting up an archery base in preparation for the battle.

"Just nervous" Will shrugged "I'm not a fighter." Will tried to keep his voice steady. Kayla rolled her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous. I've seen you fight, you're not that bad." She said. Will looked unconvinced. "Besides, if we're as outnumbered as Chiron seems to think we're gonna be, we'll need healers more than we need fighters."

Will's stomach churned. Yeah, like that made him feel any better.

They were almost at the edge of the green when their head counsellor, Lee Fletcher, and two other Apollo campers came to help them with their load of weapons. Will was just handing over a stack of quivers to Austin when one of the Ares campers shouted from their lookout position on the roof of the Ares cabin.

"Chiron! Incoming - I think it's Annabeth and Percy!"

Will and his siblings followed the lookout's gaze to see five pegasi descending on the camp, one carrying the unmistakable form of Tyson. As they got closer, Will could see that Percy led the way on Blackjack. Behind him Annabeth and Grover were flanking a young, dark haired demigod that Will had never met before.

"You two, take a bow and get over there to support Chiron" Lee said, gesturing at Will and Kayla. Kayla dumped the rest of her bows and took a quiver from Austin, jogging to the centre of the cabins where Chiron stood alongside the old satyr, Silenus. Will hastily took a bow himself and went after her.

Chiron nodded at them in acknowledgement just as the five pegasi touched down.

"Chiron!" Percy burst out, jumping off of Blackjack and launching into a rapid explanation of the past few days, telling Chiron all about their adventures in the Labyrinth. Annabeth was instantly at his side, chiming in with more specific details about Daedalus and Luke. Will could tell they were all in bad shape. Percy and Annabeth had clearly been fighting hard and Grover and Tyson were both bedraggled, with a melancholy hanging over Grover that Will didn't yet understand. He turned his attention to the new kid.

He was younger than Will, but only by a little. There was probably about a year's difference. Will could tell that he was seriously underweight, and probably suffering insomnia from the bags under his eyes. He definitely needed some Vitamin D too; his skin was paler than anyone he'd ever seen. Had they found him down in the Labyrinth?

Percy introduced him as Nico, but he didn't look up at the mention of his name. He was staring at the ground, looking intensely uncomfortable, as if he was desperately wishing he could be anywhere but here. Will could relate, thinking nervously again of the battle ahead.

Chiron raised an eyebrow when Annabeth explained how they ran into Nico and Nico shifted uneasily under his gaze.

Percy and Annabeth didn't quite explain but as they described how Nico saved them in the fight against Daedalus Will and Kayla exchanged shocked looks. Was this kid… a son of Hades?

Will looked at Nico with renewed awe, though Nico didn't seem to notice.

"We must hurry" Chiron said as the Percy, Annabeth and Grover finished recounting their quest, and he galloped away towards the woods.

"Guess this is it" Kayla muttered. Will took a deep breath and together with the returned quest party, they followed.

-

The battle was the first and most brutal fight Will had ever fought in. Will learnt that when placed in the midst of a fight, he no longer particularly worried about his own fighting abilities. He found that the most important thing he could do under fire was trust his fellow demigods to have his back, and focus on healing.

At the start of the fight, Lee made sure to instruct Will to hang back and keep his vantage position in the trees so that he could keep an eye out for the wounded.

"We're going to be outnumbered" Lee told him "and that means we need you and the other medics in the field working to get as many campers back on their feet as possible."

They were the last words Lee Fletcher would ever say to him.

The next thing he knew, he and Kayla were sitting wordlessly together in the front row of the amphitheatre as a plain, golden shroud burned on the pyre in front of them.

Afterwards, their new counsellor, Michael Yew approached Will. "Hey" he said "I'm sorry to pull you away so soon but… we need someone to lead in the infirmary."

"Lead?" said Will.

"Yeah. Lead. You're our best healer, Will." He clapped Will on the shoulder. Will looked at Kayla uncertainly but she just looked amused. Michael gave him an encouraging smile. "Ok?" he asked. Will nodded and hurried across the camp to the infirmary.

-

Will greeted the handful of campers and satyrs who were working in the infirmary already. "Um, Michael said that I was in charge?"

"Oh good" said the satyr closest to him, Will thought his name was Monty. "We've got plenty of patients in. You should probably take a look at that kid first though." He gestured to the far corner of the room, where Nico, the son of Hades, was sitting up in the bed on top of the covers, legs crossed.

Will took a deep breath, pushing all thoughts of Lee aside for a moment in lieu of focusing on his patient.

"Hi" Will approached him "I'm Will Solace"

Nico was looking out the window, his eyes focused on something far away. It took him a few seconds before his gaze shifted to Will. He looked up at him warily, almost indecisively.

"Hi" he said in a quiet voice. His shoulders were tensed but there was a weariness about him that indicated he was too tired to be defensive. Will kept his distance, hoping to put him at ease.

"You're Nico?" he asked.

"Nico di Angelo" Nico said somewhat reluctantly. Will tried to read as much as he could about Nico's medical condition from the foot of the bed, but he'd need to have contact to get a solid read with his powers.

"Cool, well, I'm a son of Apollo. Here to dish out some healing." Will stepped forward confidently. "Were you injured in the battle?"

Nico shook his head. "Not exactly."

Will raised his eyebrows and reached out to take Nico's wrist. Nico pulled it away.

"Percy already gave me nectar for it," he said, a tiny bit of defensiveness creeping through his exhaustion. Will noted his emphasis on Percy's name. He smirked.

"Yeah? Well I'm gonna take a look anyway." He reached out and very gently wrapped a hand around Nico's wrist, which Nico still had curled against his chest. An unexpected wave of cold washed over him, so powerful he had to force himself not to reel from it. "Whoa," Will murmured, "you've got some serious powers there."

"And that's bad?" Nico asked, defensive again.

"No, man! I just mean…" Will studied Nico's face, "you must be exhausted."

"Oh" Nico slumped back against his pillow. "Yeah."

"You better get some rest here tonight" Will said "There are pyjamas in the back there. I'll see about getting you some food."

"Thanks" said Nico. For once he looked relieved, even grateful. He gingerly climbed off his bed and went to get changed. Will turned as if to regroup with the other healers, pausing instead to stare at the hand he'd used to touch Nico's wrist.

He'd never felt that kind of exhaustion in anyone before. That kind of damage to a demigod… as ifsome tiny part of him was fading. It must be some kind of Underworld magic… Will glanced back at Nico, equal parts fascinated and worried.

There was no official dinner that night at camp but there was a spread of food in the dining pavilion anyway, laid out so that campers and satyrs could come and go in the aftermath of the battle and the funerals. Will instructed his siblings to grab a spread for the campers who, like Nico, would be spending the night in the infirmary.

Will thought about Nico and the way he fell back against the pillows in relief when Will told him he could rest. What must that kid have been through before meeting up with Percy and Annabeth on their quest? Will resolved to sit and chat some more with him once he'd eaten some dinner, but before he knew it three new injured campers had arrived and his fellow healers were bombarding him with questions. Will went on autopilot, healing, giving advice, handing out food and ambrosia.

By the time things had died down again it was late and Nico di Angelo was asleep.

-

The sharp beeping of Will's alarm pierced the air in the Apollo cabin at 5am the next morning. Will jerked awake and hastily scrambled for the alarm before the handful of his siblings who were stirring were properly disturbed.

His hand slammed down onto the alarm clock and just as suddenly as it started, the sound died. Will sat on the edge of his bed in the silence, ears ringing. His mind raced from the sudden start. He swept his eyes around the room. It didn't look like the alarm had woken anyone, but from the way Michael was lying, his back to Will, his shoulders tensed, it looked like he was never awake to begin with.

Lee's death came back to him with a sudden crash of emotion. Will screwed his eyes shut leant forward, putting his head in his hands. The battle was over. Everything was different now. And yet he knew the war had only just begun.

The click of the cabin door opening made Will jump. A sleepy Austin appeared in the doorway, wearing scrubs. Hastily, Will wiped his eyes and reached for his own scrubs, remembering why he set his alarm in the first place. It was his shift.

"You alright?" Austin whispered. He must have seen Will crying as he came in.

"I'm fine" Will whispered hoarsely back. "How's the infirmary?"

"Quiet" Austin said. "Everyone's safe and asleep. It's going to be a busy day though. Call for back up if you need."

"I will." Will slipped on his flip flops and headed for the bathroom. At least working all day would keep his mind off things. Plus, maybe today he'd get to properly talk to Nico di Angelo…

-

Unfortunately, it appeared that Nico di Angelo slept like the dead… A son of Hades thing?

Will flitted between patients all morning and attended to at least five campers coming for medical supplies or to get wounds seen to that hadn't seemed urgent enough to mention yesterday. Pretty much everyone at camp was wounded. Through it all, Nico di Angelo slept.

Twice, Will went to his bedside to take his pulse. Just in case.

"Is this kid nocturnal?" Will said to Monty the satyr, who was back to help him and his sister Victoria with today's shift.

He checked the notes on Nico's chart. Austin had scribbled under today's date. ' _disturbed sleep but didn't wake in the night. probably nightmares._ ' Will frowned in concern.

"It's only 10am, Will. The kid's allowed a sleep in after what he pulled off yesterday at the battle" Victoria laughed. She was changing the bandages on one of the injured Ares campers. The Ares kid did not look happy, gritting his teeth as Victoria exposed a nasty looking gash from the day before.

"What'd he do in battle?" Will asked.

"Summoned a bunch of skeletons to stop the dracanae getting into the camp," Monty said, super casual, as if these kinds of things happened all the time. Will supposed they pretty much did happen all the time at Camp Half Blood.

Victoria shuddered. "It was creepy."

"It was awesome," The Ares kid corrected, an impressed smirk on his face. "Six full skeletons right out of the ground. Fully armed. The dracanae didn't stand a chance."

Will thought back to the exhaustion he felt when he touched Nico's wrist yesterday. No kidding.

"Where did he come from?" Victoria wondered aloud.

"Percy and Annabeth met up with him on their quest." Will said. "But Kayla said he was at camp last winter."

"Apollo brought him." Monty said with a nod. "I was there. He seemed a lot more cheerful back then though. Guess he picked up a few tricks when he was gone."

"Well I hope he sticks around." The Ares kid said. "We could use a fighter like him. Even without his powers he was pretty good in battle. Wonder where he learned to fight like that."

Will looked back down at Nico, who slept on, oblivious to their discussion.

-

At almost midday, Nico finally stirred.

"Hey, you're up!" Will said from across the room. He was checking the dressing on an Aphrodite campers' injured shoulder. Victoria had gone to get lunch and Monty was out finding some food to bring back for those still in the infirmary.

Nico looked around blearily. As he seemed to remember where he was and why, what Will was beginning to recognise as his signature scowl slowly began to return to his face. Will quickly finished up with the shoulder, heading over to Nico.

"What time is it?" Nico asked. He sat up gingerly in his bed.

Will grinned. "Almost twelve. Sounds like you needed the sleep though."

Nico looked at him suspiciously, trying to figure out what Will knew.

"How are you feeling?" Will asked. He sensed that Nico wouldn't appreciate Will hovering, so he pretended to be busy by sorting bandages on the next bed over while he talked.

"I'm ok." Nico said. When Will raised an eyebrow, he scowled. "I'm fine." he said forcefully.

"Ok" Will shrugged. "Did you sleep ok?"

It was Nico's turn to shrug. "Do demigods ever?" He said roughly. Will grinned again.

"I don't really get prophetic dreams. Just the occasional check in from my dad." He said.

"Your dad checks in on you?" Nico's eyes widened.

"Yeah. Most weeks he checks in on one of us. Apollo's one of the more talkative gods." Will said. The Ares camper in the bed opposite Nico made a muffled snorting sound.

"If you count reciting poetry about how great he is as talking" He scoffed. Will laughed.

"Right. Because I hear Ares is so modest" He smirked at Nico, but Nico didn't smile. He continued to look completely perplexed. Will felt a rush of pity, even as his brain registered that pity was the last thing this kid needed right now. "I guess your dad isn't quite so friendly." Will said.

Nico's face darkened and he looked away. Will set down his bandages and headed round to Nico's bedside.

"Can I check your pulse?" He asked, figuring it was best to change the subject. Nico glanced up at him and reluctantly held out a wrist. Will hoped it wasn't obvious how eager he was to touch Nico. He'd held out as long as he could, but really he was itching to feel what he'd felt yesterday, to get another look at this new type of Underworld injury Will was now thinking must be related to summoning those skeletons.

Will's fingers curved around Nico's wrist. Nico avoided his gaze. Will could hear the Ares camper chatting to the other patients behind him, no longer listening to them.

As Will came into contact with Nico's skin he again felt that rush of cold. It was a lot fainter than it had been yesterday, but it was still there. His skin was physically cold too, though it was the internal cold that had Will worried. How could you heal something like this, when it didn't seem to be connected to any physical injury… or even mental injury?

Will could sense plenty of mental trauma in Nico, whatever that was linked to, though that wasn't too uncommon in demigods, especially powerful demigods. But he didn't think that was where the cold was coming from. This internal cold… of all the things going on in Nico's body… it seemed most connected to his tiredness. The sleep really had been doing him some good. He did look a little less gaunt, more solid maybe…

As Will focused on Nico, his pulse beating steadily under his fingers, a warmth seemed to slowly build in Will's chest. Where was that coming from? It didn't seem connected to the cold. Maybe it was coming from Will?

Will studied Nico's face. He didn't seem to notice what Will was feeling. He glared down at his own toes, waiting patiently for Will to be done. Will released his wrist.

"Kayla told me that you joined Camp last winter." He said. He tried to keep his tone as friendly as he could. "I'm guessing you'll be here for the summer?" he ventured.

"I'm not a camper." Nico said bluntly, shifting his gaze to scowl at his hands.

"Oh. Ok then" Will frowned. He tried to hide his confusion with another smile, but felt as if he probably failed. Nico's scowl deepened. "Well, you're all set here. Your heartbeat's steady and you don't seem as tired as you were yesterday." He stepped back. "Monty will be bringing some lunch any minute now, but after that you're free to go. I'll be here all day if you need anything."

Nico didn't meet his eyes.

"Ok, well just let me know" Will shrugged easily and started to pack up the bandages from before. By the time he'd finished putting them in the storage cupboard and helping Monty distribute the lunch he'd just brought back, Nico di Angelo had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to channel the laidback vibes of BOO Will here. 
> 
> Baby Will is not quiiiiite obsessed with Nico yet... YET (although yes I do acknowledge his blatant eagerness to touch Nico in this chapter - its for SCIENCE ok?!)
> 
> Bit of a long build up pre-battle, I know. Still trying to decide how in depth I'll go with the character building outside of the Will/Nico stuff. Let me know if you have a preference for more/less backstory!
> 
> Next chapter will be quite a jump forward, hope you like it :)


	3. Enough (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Enough" Nico yelled. He felt the air around him go chilly. He glared up at Will who stopped speaking instantly, his mouth open in surprise. "I'm sick of this, Will. I'm sick of you making me feel bad about this."
> 
> Nico shadow travels. Will isn't happy about it. Nico POV.
> 
> ~Takes place a few months post-BoO~

_Nico_

Nico stepped out of the shadow of one of the columns in the dining pavilion. The usual wave of exhaustion washed over him, stronger this time than the initial jump to California, but he was smiling. His chest felt warm. The thoughts of Hazel's arm around him and Reyna's eyes sparkling were still fresh on the edges of his mind.

He swayed slightly. The sun was setting in New York now, the horizon splashed with orange and pink.

Though Nico's eyelids were drooping, his heart lifted at the sight. He began his walk across camp back to the cabins. His eyes sought out the infirmary and he wondered if he had the energy to visit Will before crawling into bed to get some rest.

Before he could follow this train of thought however, the door to the Apollo cabin banged open. Will was marching across the green towards him. He was angry. All Nico's warm thoughts about Camp Jupiter and sunsets and sleepy kisses were chased from his head.

"Where have you been?" Will demanded when he reached Nico, eyes flashing. Nico didn't have the energy to be annoyed back.

"New Rome" he said. _Obviously_ he added to himself silently. Will scowled, perhaps sensing his silent sarcasm.

"You shadow travelled all the way to California and back within 48 hours?" He crossed his arms.

"Will, relax, I was just visiting Hazel" Nico thought longingly of his cabin, of climbing under the covers to sleep, away from the scrutiny of Will's anger.

" _Just_ visiting Hazel?" Will said " _Just?_ California is 2000 miles away, Nico. I can't believe you. You _know_ what shadow travel does to you. You _know_ how much of a leap that is."

"It's not that bad when it's just me." Nico defended weakly.

"But it's _still bad_." Will wasn't letting up. "Look at you. You can barely keep your eyes open. Did you even eat while you were at Camp Jupiter? Did you take a nap when you got there?"

Nico frowned. "I'm not a little kid, Will."

"Yeah, well you might as well be" Will said. Nico glared at him. "Every time you shadow travel you get like this. And every time I tell you how bad it is for you and then _every time_ you just ignore me." Proper anger began to spark in Nico's chest as Will spoke. He started to feel more awake. "When are you going to develop any sense of self preservation?" Will asked forcefully. "You think that you're strong because you can do these things that no one else can do but it's obvious that shadow travel _hurts_ you."

"Look, Will -"

"No" Will shook his head in exasperation. "I thought that you could recover from the Athena Parthenos quest, and that over time shadow travel would get less taxing-"

" _Will_ " Nico tried again but Will ignored him.

"- but obviously that was never going to work with you. These things that you do to yourself are dangerous Nico, when are you going to-"

" _Enough!_ " Nico yelled. He felt the air around him go chilly. He glared up at Will who stopped speaking instantly, his mouth open in surprise. "I'm sick of this, Will. I'm sick of you making me feel bad about this." Nico was wide awake now, his pulse racing. "None of the other campers have to worry about using their powers. I don't see you taking a break when you're exhausted from healing campers all day, or when you've done a full twelve hour shift."

"That's different." Will glared "I-"

"Or what about Percy?" Nico pressed on "Or Jason? What about when they're running around causing fires and floods, and destroying camp property? How come shadow travel is _dangerous_ but causing a hurricane or a literal lightning storm is just all in a days work?" Nico had never felt this angry at Will before, but as he spoke his anger only grew. "And what about when the Ares kids get torn to pieces fighting each other in their spare time?" he demanded, "Or what about when the Hephaestus cabin have about three kids in the infirmary per day with second degree burns? You fix them right up, don't you?"

Will didn't answer. His face had gone white. His silence only spurred Nico on.

"People should be glad I have my powers. You should be thankful you have someone around who can travel across the entire country in a single day. You should be glad that I was there to watch _your_ back in battle when other campers needed healing. That I was down in the Underworld searching for the Doors of Death while you guys were up here, playing happy families while you all sang songs at the campfire and built Leo's ship together, ready to send the Seven off to take all the credit." Nico's scowl deepened. "Everyone else at camp with special powers is rewarded for it. Head counsellors. The leaders of quests. 'The Big _Three_ '?" Nico spat out the last three words with renewed venom. "You guys think that Camp Half Blood is so nice and welcoming but you're just as bad as Olympus. One rule for Hades and another rule for everybody else."

Will's eyes were wide. Nico had never talked to Will this way before. He hardly mentioned the war with the giants with the exception of the final battle they had fought in together, with Octavian. Will seemed unable to say anything. He stared at Nico, rooted to the spot. Nico looked away, still glaring. As they stood, he started to remember his tiredness, remember the journey he had just made.

"Goodnight, Will" He said. Then he turned and walked across the green and back to his cabin. He didn't look back.

—

Nico fell back against the cabin door as soon as he was inside. The exhaustion from his journey crashed back over him along with the reality of what he'd just said to Will.

His throat was suddenly raw. His eyes burned.

Anger at Will treating him like glass and fear that what he'd said would drive Will away warred inside him.

What if Will didn't forgive him for this? What if he didn't want to speak to him again?

The tiredness threatening to make Nico pass out on his own doorstep was proof enough that his anger at Will had been unreasonable. He should have listened. Should have apologised. He shouldn't have taken such a long journey twice in such a short amount of time. He couldn't handle it. Especially without Reyna lending him strength.

And who was he kidding? Of course his powers were more dangerous than everyone else at camp. With a sinking feeling Nico remembered Reyna and Coach's faces when they told him about what he'd done to Bryce Lawrence. How could he compare _that_ to the Ares cabin getting cuts and bruises in the training arena?

Camp Half Blood should be glad to have his powers? What was he thinking?

Familiar self-loathing started to creep back into his thoughts, like mist snaking across the cabin floor and curling around his feet. It was hard to remember his sleepy thoughts of hugs with Hazel and kissing Will goodnight, though they had only been there five minutes ago, or less.

Nico dropped his head into his hands. He was still slumped against the cabin door when a few minutes later there was a gentle knock.

Nico started. He pushed himself away from the door and turned, stomach churning with guilt and nerves.

Was that one of his neighbours from the Hermes cabin? Had they seen him and Will fighting? Did they overhear their conversation?

Hesitantly, he opened the door to see Will in the doorway. He was chewing his lip, fingers clutched tightly around the silver flask he was holding.

Nico's heart thudded, renewed guilt rushing through him. He was scared. Will was scared of him.

"Will, I-"

"You were right." Will interrupted him, speaking hastily before Nico could properly form words. Nico blinked. His mind suddenly blank.

"What?"

Will stepped into the cabin. The expression on Will's face that Nico had interpreted as fear softened into worry as he took in Nico's trembling hands and red eyes.

"You were right" Will said again "You _are_ right. About your powers. About me. I-" Will swallowed "I shouldn't have been angry at you. I'm sorry." He sounded almost pained, his voice scratchy and guilt-ridden. Nico struggled to backtrack through his thoughts. "Can you forgive me?" Will asked. He shifted his feet. Nervous.

"I-" Nico struggled, stumbling. "You… I… _what_?"

The corner of Will's mouth quirked upwards slightly. "Hasn't anyone ever apologised to you before?" He said. When Nico just stared at him, Will grimaced. "Look, Nico, I-"

"You're not mad at me?" Nico said, finally starting to process what was happening. _You don't hate me?_ He asked silently. Incredulously.

"Of course not" Will said. And he said it so gently, so earnestly, that Nico felt his whole body slump with relief. Will's forehead creased with concern. Some small part of Nico registered how adorable he looked when he was worried.

"Look, you've had a long journey." Will said quietly. He said it kindly for once; concerned, not frustrated. "I brought you some unicorn draught to help you heal from the jump. You should drink about half of it now and then get some sleep. At least twelve hours." He smiled and added "Doctors orders", a hint of laughter in his eyes despite his calm.

Nico stared at him in wonder, overwhelmed. Was this really happening?

"Here." Will stepped forward and pressed the flask of unicorn draught into his hands. "Lets talk more in the morning."

Will pressed his lips to Nico's cheek, brushed his hair from Nico's forehead, smiled again and left the cabin, this time leaving Nico standing speechless in his wake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Head to chapter 3 of 'Between You and Everyone Else' (part three of this series) to read Nico's visit to Camp Jupiter feat. Reyna being the best friend ever and some Hazel fluff :)


	4. Enough (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you think you could come to the infirmary after breakfast? I have something to show you"
> 
> Will realises Nico was right. He tries to make amends and Nico cries. Nico POV.
> 
> ~Takes place the day after chapter 3, a few months post-BoO~

_Nico_

The next morning, Nico approached the dining pavilion with trepidation. His stomach was churning with guilt and confusion from the night before.

When he arrived, his eyes drifted instinctually towards the Apollo table. Will was sitting with Austin, his food already finished. He'd probably been up since dawn, ever the morning person. He noticed Nico looking and brightened, waving. Nico looked away. _Was he really not mad at him?_

Nico shuffled across the pavilion to join the Apollo campers at their table, unwilling to meet Will's eyes. But when he looked up, Will was smiling.

"Hey" he said breathlessly, eyes shining in that cute nervous way that they used to in the weeks before they started dating. Nico sat down next to him. "How'd you sleep?"

"Um. Good thanks" Nico said, a little uncertainly. He really wasn't mad?

"That's great" Will smiled widely, reaching to squeeze his hand. Nico was still too bewildered to say anything at the public display of affection, which earned him a smirk and a raised eyebrow from Austin.

"Hey, I have to go, but do you think you could come to the infirmary after breakfast? I have something to show you" Will said. There was that shining, nervous look again.

"Sure." Nico said slowly. Will smiled even wider.

"Great! See you then!" He leaned across to kiss Nico's cheek, then jumped up and left the dining pavilion.

"Hey, how come Will gets to kiss Nico but I have to follow the 'no flirting at breakfast' rule" Kayla was sliding into the seat opposite Nico. Nico hadn't noticed her arrive.

"Because it's inappropriate to flirt with the dryads at every meal." Austin said sternly.

"Hey, it's not inappropriate, and it's not at _every_ meal! it's charming!" Kayla complained.

"It's definitely inappropriate." Nico chimed in, forcing himself to turn to the regular banter at the table while he ate. Kayla frowned and Austin laughed.

—

In the infirmary, Nico was surprised to find that it wasn't just Will waiting for him.

At the back of the room, Will had pushed some beds aside to make room for what looked to be a small council meeting, except that it wasn't the head counsellors gathered together in a rough circle. Lou Ellen, Coach Hedge and Clovis were all there. Nico stared. Since when had the three of them come back to camp?

The three surprise guests were sitting down on some chairs Will had pulled away from their usual spots beside the infirmary beds. Will was standing by his desk in the corner of the room, where he kept his healing notes. He was talking to the group about something, his serious head counsellor face on.

Lou Ellen was watching Nico closely, her eyes dancing with something like amusement. Clovis appeared to be in a deep sleep. Coach Hedge shot Nico a wide grin as he came into the infirmary. As he did so, Will stopped talking and turned to look at Nico too.

Nico felt a wild kind of panic at the sight of everyone looking at him. What was going on?

"Nico!" Will rushed towards him. Nico had the foresight to step back slightly so that Will wouldn't hug him in front of everyone. Will just rolled his eyes.

"You wanted to show me something?" Nico said uncertainly, his eyes flickering to the assembled group at the back of the room.

"Yes" Will grinned. He reached out and took Nico's hand, guiding him to the back of the room. "I was thinking about what you said last night" Will said.

"Oh" Nico said and he looked with panic at Coach Hedge. "Look, Will, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have travelled all the way there and back in one day. You don't need to-"

Lou Ellen interrupted him with a laugh and Nico's apology died in his throat. He looked back at Will.

"You don't need to apologise" Will said. "I was thinking it over, and I realised that what you said about the other campers and their powers makes total sense." Nico watched the others to see how they would respond to this and was shocked to see that they were all nodding in agreement. "Our approach to shadow travel has been all wrong" Will continued. "We shouldn't be telling you to travel less, or rest more - though that will help. We should be figuring out how to help you recover from jumps faster."

Nico stared. There was a long pause.

"Look" Will took Nico's hand again and brought him to his desk. "After we talked, and you went to rest, I stayed up all night with my notes."

"You stayed up _all night_?"

"I've been keeping track of the impact of your Underworld powers for years" Will said, gesturing to his desk. Nico looked and saw that it was covered in scraps of paper with notes and diagrams scribbled all over them. Some were years old, as Will said. Others were freshly written, as if he'd only written them this morning.

"Ever since I first treated you after the Battle of the Labyrinth, we knew that Underworld magic was doing a different kind of damage to your body than any other kind of magic we'd seen. I've been trying to string together all my observations, and I'm going to write a guide that we can keep in the infirmary, so that everyone who trains at Camp Half Blood will learn how best to treat it."

Will showed Nico the latest addition to the pile of notes; a neat document titled ' _Treatment for damage by Underworld magic_ '. On it were various notes on tiredness, unicorn draught, even Coach Hedge's nature healing crossed with sports drinks. Nico looked at it, then back up at Will's huge smile. The self-loathing that had started to re-ignite itself in Nico's stomach the previous night started to shift into a different kind of ache. The skeletal butterflies Nico was pretty used to by now were doing crazy loop the loops in his chest.

"There's more" Will said, turning back to the assembled group beside them. "We don't have nearly enough information on Underworld magic recorded in the camp. Even this healing stuff needs a bunch more research. So, as lead healer, I'm forming a special group with Lou Ellen and Coach Hedge and Clovis to keep working on it. Chiron's approved it. He flew Clovis in overnight so she could come to the first meeting. And Lou Ellen drove over this morning. We were lucky Coach was in town already on Searcher business." Nico gaped at the group assembled around him. Clovis was still sleeping but Lou Ellen and Coach Hedge were both grinning. A sharp pressure began to build up behind Nico's eyes. In spite of himself, he felt his lower lip tremble and clamped his mouth shut. Will took his hand again.

"I'm really sorry that it took me this long to see it. But I'm going to start helping you to use your powers better." Will said. His eyes glittered. "I'm think we should talk to Chiron about your training too. You need more than just sparring with the Ares kids. You need proper hero training. Like Hercules and Achilles. You were right; we're lucky to have a child of The Big Three in camp all year round, and we need to start acting like it."

Will spoke forcefully, his eyes bright as they burned into Nico, determined. Nico couldn't help the tears that stung his eyes. He took a shaky breath.

"I…" He began, voice thick with emotion. He glanced round at all of them. Clovis was even awake now, peering up at him blearily. They were all watching him. They agreed with Will. They were going to work together to help him. Like they needed him. Like he mattered. He looked back to Will. "This is… the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me." He mumbled.

Will's answering smile was the brightest thing in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't know where this idea came from. But once I had it I could not let it go.
> 
> Will being worried about Nico using his powers is cute. But you know what's cuter? ... This.
> 
> *See Part 2 of this Series ('Between Me and Everyone Else') for a companion chapter to this one featuring Hades finding out about Will's Underworld project.


	5. The infirmary - day one (morning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Will peered anxiously across the green, where Nico was talking to Percy and Annabeth. The nerves he had steeled as he insisted that Nico owed him three days in the infirmary were starting to fray.'
> 
> Solangelo. Three days in the infirmary. You know the drill. 
> 
> Day One, Part One. Both Nico & Will POV.
> 
> ~Takes place immediately post-BoO. Obviously.~

_Will_

Will peered anxiously across the green, where Nico was talking to Percy and Annabeth. The nerves he had steeled as he insisted that Nico owed him three days in the infirmary were starting to fray.

There was no need to be unnecessarily harsh on Nico, was there? But then again, Nico hadn't seemed to mind. Just as he had slumped back against the pillows years ago after the Battle of the Labyrinth, Nico seemed to be relieved at the suggestion of rest. And maybe, just maybe Will allowed himself to think that it was more than that. That Nico _wanted_ to spend time with him. Maybe…

He watched as Nico spoke to Percy Jackson. Percy's head was swivelling between him and Annabeth. All the camp rumours about Nico's crush on Annabeth and Will's own private theory about who the crush was really on echoed in Will's mind. Again, Will felt a stab of doubt.

But then, Nico high-fived Annabeth and turned back to Will. He seemed to be smirking to himself.

When he reached the steps to the Apollo cabin he smiled up at Will.

_Oh Gods._

Will hadn't seen Nico smile like this before. He felt his heartbeat quicken. All of a sudden his nervousness shifted into a more pleasant kind of nerves. He smiled too, though Nico's expression had already fallen back into a smirk.

"Lead the way, Solace" He said, and Will's skin tingled as he said his name.

—

Will by this point had known he had a crush. But it wasn't until that first morning in the infirmary that it really hit in full force.

They weren't doing anything particularly romantic. They weren't even really flirting. But Will just couldn't stop _noticing_.

He noticed how Nico's lip quirked up in one corner, just slightly, when something amused him. He noticed how he placed his hands flat on the bed beside him when he sat like he was not quite comfortable; ready to push himself back up again at a moment's notice.

He noticed how he blew his hair out of his face every now and then, and how when that didn't work he would get frustrated and push it right back with the palm of his hand.

He noticed how alert he was, eyes darting between the different campers, always aware when the door opened and someone new came in. He noticed how he was clearly aware of who the most high risk patients in the room were. He noticed how Nico was concerned for them, but seemed too shy to offer help.

He noticed his pale skin and the bags under his eyes.

He noticed his dark hair and pretty smile.

He noticed that he seemed to notice Will too, though he tried to hide it.

He noticed.

—

It wasn't until about midday that the two of them got to talk properly. The morning sped by and while Will had assigned Nico a bed, he'd also suggested a list of tasks he could help Austin and the satyrs with, since it seemed silly for him to just sit there. Will worked all morning with his siblings, patching up campers and checking up on those who had stayed the night there. Throwing Nico glances every few seconds and slowly starting to realise that he had it _bad_.

When midday finally rolled around he collapsed into the chair next to Nico's assigned bed, where Nico was leaning back against the pillows, legs stretched out on top of the covers.

"Damn, Solace, you're making _me_ tired" he said.

"Only halfway through the day so far, di Angelo. You fighting demigods have no endurance."

"I have endurance!"

Will scoffed "Travelling a hundred miles in a second and then passing out for twelve hours is _not_ endurance"

"I don't always pass out" Nico pouted. Will laughed.

"So how are you feeling?" He asked. Nico gave him a sidelong glance.

"What do you mean?"

"Still caught up on being a son of Hades in the same room as people I'm trying to heal?" Will smirked as he said it. Nico rolled his eyes. Will noticed how he bit his bottom lip slightly as he did so.

"Whatever, just because you don't mind I'm here doesn't mean it's a good idea" Nico said. Though Will noticed that his cheeks went a faint shade of pink as he said the word 'you'.

"Well how do _you_ feel about being here?" Will pressed. Nico turned and met his eyes.

"It's tolerable" he said, face indifferent. Will's turn to smirk.

"Alright, well I better do a check up on you. Give me your wrist." He stood up and held his hand out. Nico looked taken aback but he sat up nonetheless, swinging his legs off the bed so that he sat facing Will, his knees just to the left of Will's hip. Will tried not to think too much about how close they were.

"Ok." Nico held his wrist out, though his face was suddenly full of reluctance. "Look-" Nico began, - but before he could back out, Will had wrapped his fingers around his pulse point. "Look, Will, before you freak out, I just want to-" He cut off at the look on Will's face.

As soon as his skin had touched Nico's, the rush of cold energy had hit him, just as he had expected. What he hadn't expected was that it was almost as powerful as it had been three days ago out on the battlefield. Will had kept his cool then, but now he had to fight against a stagger. The exhaustion was _so_ powerful. How had Nico been surviving with this much negative energy inside him? How had none of this abated over the past three days? He turned to stare at Nico in disbelief and saw two guilty eyes looking back.

"What the _hell_ , di Angelo?" he said, not letting go of Nico's wrist. "Have you not been resting at _all_ these past three days?"

"I have been resting!" Nico said, though he looked almost panicked. "I have! It's just been really crazy, with Leo still missing and the burial rites and everything. And with Hazel and Reyna still here. And like, Jason has barely left me alone for a second. And obviously I had to meet Coach Hedge's son and meet Mellie and stuff."

"Nico, none of that stuff should have prevented you from sleeping, which seems to be the main treatment for this kind of magic damage." Will said sternly. "What in the Hades have you been doing that's keeping you from recovering?"

Nico seemed to react poorly to Will's newly authoritative tone. His scowl returned and he tried to pull his wrist away. Will kept his grip and Nico's eyes flashed defensively.

"Stop that. Will." He pulled back again but Will didn't let up. He turned his wrist over to try and look at Nico's arm.

"Are you injured?" He asked. Nico's eyes flickered away.

"No." He said.

"Ok. Obviously you're lying. What happened?" He made to roll up Nico's jacket sleeve with his other hand but Nico pulled away more forcefully now, moving back further onto the bed.

"Nothing. Look, Will, I'll show you ok? It's just… it's like I said, just don't freak out?" He was still defensive, still cautious, but not angry. Will relaxed his grip.

"Ok, ok." He said. Nico pulled his wrist away and shrugged off his jacket. As he did so some stupid, still dazed part of his brain chose this moment to realise that Nico had stopped calling him Solace and started calling him Will… He decided this would not be a good thought to dwell on as Nico hesitantly reached for the hem of his shirt like he was going to take that off too.

"No freaking out" Nico reminded him, before pulling the black t-shirt over his head. Will's breath hitched. Nico's shoulders and upper arms were completely covered in thin, hastily applied bandages. Slowly, Nico removed one to reveal a criss cross of angry red scratches; some healed over into angry red scars but others still more or less fresh. Nico watched Will carefully for signs of freaking out, and Will contented himself with a single glare of disbelief before snapping into healer mode and stepping forward to get a closer look.

"Holy Hera, Nico" he murmured, lightly touching one of the more healed over scratches on his left shoulder. "Were you attacked by _werewolves_?"

Nico sighed heavily. "Yeah. About a week ago. Maybe two."

"Two _weeks_ ago?" Will pulled back, glaring again.

"Hey, cut it out, you said you wouldn't-"

"Ok, ok, it's just, Gods, do these not _hurt_?" Will walked round the bed to check out Nico's back, which was equally bandaged up. Carefully, Will reached forward and began to remove the rest of the bandages. Nico's shoulders tensed under his touch.

"It's not that bad." He mumbled.

"Not that bad? How come Hedge wasn't able to heal these?" Will asked, coming back round to the front and removing the last of the bandages. Some of Nico's chest was scratched up too, just below his collar bone.

Nico swallowed. " Reyna stitched the worst cuts up. We had a limited supply of nectar and unicorn draught. It seemed safest to keep that aside for shadow travel and emergencies."

"And getting attacked by werewolves wasn't an emergency?" Will asked. Nico grimaced.

"We fought worse. Lycaon was the least of our worries" He shrugged.

"Lycaon…?" Will whispered under his breath with a disbelieving shake of the head. "Ok." He said, louder this time. "Well, I thought this three days in the infirmary diagnosis was gonna be mainly for me, but these scratches are gonna need some serious healing."

"Mainly for you?" Nico said, raising an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

_Shit._

Will's eyes snapped back to Nico's in panic as he realised what he'd just said.

"What? Um- Uh, nothing. It means nothing." He said hastily, his panic rising as he saw Nico was beginning to smirk. That smug little… "I just meant- because you'd be helping me out. In the infirmary. With healing. Getting me sodas, you know, like I said. I mean - you know?"

"Right." Nico looked away, still smirking but also blushing a little. Will looked down at his hands and felt his own cheeks flame hot. His hands were still resting lightly on Nico's shoulders. _Shit, shit, shit._

"Um, anyway" He cleared his throat and pulled back. "Healing. I'll uh- I need to get rid of these bandages and um… I'll be back. With medicine. Don't go anywhere." And without daring to look at Nico, Will snatched the used bandages off the bed and hurried towards the back room.

As he rushed across the infirmary he passed Austin, who'd been standing by a patient a few beds away and was smirking at Will. "Smooth, Solace."

"Go to Tartarus, Austin" Will muttered darkly, and Austin laughed.

—

_Nico_

Nico cursed himself when his cheeks warmed again the second Will got back. Those recently resurrected skeletal stomach butterflies were going crazy.

Nico had never seen Will lose his cool before. Though he seemed more or less back to normal now.

"Hey" Will said casually. He spoke as if this was the first time they were seeing each other that day.

"Hey" Nico said back. He hoped he sounded at least half as chill as Will did. Will started to lay out fresh bandages, nectar and some other supplies on the bed next to him.

"You called me Will." He said. He flashed Nico a quick smile and picked up the nectar and another substance Nico didn't recognise and started to mix them together.

"Huh?" Nico frowned.

"Just before. When you were telling me not to freak out." Will said. He scooped up some of the nectar mixture with his hands and gestured to indicate he was about to apply some to Nico's cuts. "You hardly ever call me Will. Usually it's just Solace."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it, Solace." Nico said, in an attempt to cover his blush with another smirk. Will just grinned and started to treat his wounds.

As he worked, Nico sat in silence, watching fascinated at the the look of concentration on Will's face. For some of the bigger, angrier scratches, Will sang hymns in greek under his breath. His voice was low and comforting.

Against his own good judgement, Nico felt himself relax. He watched Will and listened to the warm rumble of his voice in a kind of trance. Will applied whatever mixture he'd made with painstaking precision along each individual scratch, then gently wrapped up Nico's arms and shoulders in fresh bandages. Securing each bandage securely with a firm grip, reminding Nico of how he'd been surprised by Will's strength in the battle against Gaia, when he'd supported Nico after he used his powers.

When Will was finished, Nico watched as he stepped back and straightened up. His brain started to emerge from the relaxed fog he'd been in. He registered how much lighter he suddenly felt. The muscles in his shoulders and back hadn't felt this loose in weeks. He stared at Will in awe.

"How did you do that?" He said incredulously. Will smiled and gave him a modest shrug.

"I dunno. How do you summon the dead and fight off six Roman legionnaires at once without taking a hit?" He said. Nico felt a funny kind of pang in his chest at the words. Will was being modest, and kind. But he was also impressed - impressed by _Nico_.

For a second, Will's eyes met his. Nico's breath caught in his throat.

Then, just as suddenly as the moment came it was gone and Will's eyes flickered to the floor.

"Cool, well, do you wanna get lunch?" he said. The moment was gone, but he was still smiling. "Austin should be back any minute with food for all the healers. You could eat with us here."

Nico smiled back at him, and Will's eyes seemed to gleam.

"Sure." Nico said. "That sounds nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, I know people always go on about the endless piles of three days in the infirmary fics out there... but honestly, I can't get enough. Here's my take on it, or at least a start. Let me know if you think I should do more!
> 
> Also, hit me up with your three days fic recommendations. Seriously. Can't get enough. I'm obsessed.


	6. Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You wanna hang out on the beach with me later?… As like, a date?"
> 
> There was something about the way Will had looked at him earlier... Something that made Nico feel like after tonight everything would really be different.
> 
> Will and Nico take a walk on the beach. As like, a date. Nico POV.
> 
> ~Takes place approx. two months post-BoO~

_Nico_

Nico stepped out onto the camp green to see Will waiting for him on the steps of the Apollo cabin.

He grinned to himself. His favourite view.

Gods, Will Solace was turning him into a sap.

Nico forced himself to walk at a normal, casual pace across the green. His hair was still wet from his shower and he pushed it away from his face with one hand, enjoying how the action made Will shiver, even from this far away.

Nico's stomach was in knots. Which was silly, he told himself. This wasn't exactly the first time he and Will were spending an evening alone together. But he couldn't stop turning over Will's words from before in his head.

_"You wanna hang out on the beach with me later?… As like, a date?"_

Nico had been under no illusions that Will thought of them as just friends. They'd been flirting openly for weeks now and at the campfire Nico was even starting to get brave enough to sit with his arm around Will (even though every time he had done so this week Jason ridiculed him mercilessly at breakfast the next day).

Last week they'd shared their first kiss… and their second. And third, and fourth…

Their friendship was already changing into something more… And yet there was something about the way Will had looked at him earlier, as they stood in the combat arena after practice, that made Nico feel like after tonight everything would really be different.

Will greeted him with a smile. He waited until Nico had walked right up to his feet before standing.

They were impossibly close. Nico wondered if Will was going to kiss him. A small part of his brain freaked out at the thought; it was broad daylight! There were still so many other campers around! But another part of him was disappointed when instead, Will just took his hand and started leading him towards the beach.

Will rubbed his thumb against Nico's while they walked.

"Is this ok?" He asked carefully, watching Nico closely. Truthfully, Nico wasn't even thinking about the other campers anymore. His heart was thumping in his chest so loudly he thought surely Will would be able to hear it. He nodded shyly. Will gave him a smile that took his breath away.

—

They took their time walking on the beach. At first they didn't say much. Will's hand was warm. Nico moved closer so that their shoulders bumped together with every step.

After a little while Will started to tell Nico about his morning in the infirmary. They talked about their day, neither mentioning the conversation at the combat arena.

They reached the far end of the beach, where the dunes ended and the woods began. Will let go of Nico's hand and sat down, glancing at the sand beside him in invitation. Nico smiled and joined him.

"So, what were you and Piper talking about at training today?" Nico finally asked.

He had been watching them when he was sparring with Jason. He had seen how Piper had smirked at Will in that know-it-all 'I see right through you' way that she had. How Will had rolled his eyes, but at the same time, seemed to be thinking hard.

Will gave him that same look now.

"She was just asking… you know, about us." He smiled, but cast his eyes down. Nico could see a pink flush creeping up Will's neck. He felt his own face warm.

"What did you tell her?" He asked.

Will laughed. "I didn't have to tell her anything. She already knew."

"Knew what?"

Will grinned at him.

"How crazy I am about you."

Nico blushed even deeper. Will didn't break his gaze. Despite the laughter in his tone, his eyes were earnest. Will had been earnest a lot lately, when it was just the two of them.

"I still have trouble believing that." Nico said softly.

"I know." Will whispered. "But you really shouldn't."

"Why not?"

Will paused. He let go of Nico's hand so that he could move closer, their hips touching now.

"Because I'm not going anywhere." He said.

Nico frowned, uncertain.

"Nico, being with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me…" Will's voice was quiet, and serious. "And even if you don't believe me, that doesn't mean I won't be here. I'm not going to stop trying to convince you."

Nico held Will's gaze, their noses almost touching. He wanted so desperately to give in. To believe him right then and there and let Will kiss him and kiss Will back and hold onto him and never let go.

But it wasn't that easy.

He couldn't stop that voice in the back of his head. Couldn't stop thinking about being stuck and abandoned in Tartarus and trapped in that bronze jar, helpless. Again.

"What if you can't convince me" Nico said, voice trembling. "What if I'm too broken?"

"I'm not here to fix you, Nico" Will said.

 _Then who would?_ Nico's panicked brain seemed to shout.

"Then why are you here?" He wished he didn't sound so desperate.

Will did not seem to mind. This is usually where he would roll his eyes and tell Nico he was being dense.

Instead, he brought his spare hand up to stroke Nico's cheek. Against his own volition, Nico's eyes fluttered shut.

He was absolutely terrified but, not for the first time with Will, he dared to let himself feel vulnerable.

"I'm here because I…" Will hesitated, and Nico's heart stopped. But then he pressed on, and the hand on Nico's cheek slowly moved to the back of his neck, fingers entwining in his hair. It felt so good Nico wanted to cry.

He fought to listen, to really listen to what Will was saying.

"I'm here because I care about you." Will said "Because I like spending time with you. Because I think you're the kindest, bravest, most beautiful person I've ever met."

Nico's eyes flickered open. Will was studying him intently. He certainly didn't _look_ like he was making this up, or joking.

"That's ridiculous." Nico whispered. His heart fluttered as a little crease appeared between Will's brows.

"How is it ridiculous?" he challenged.

"Because" And Nico knew he had a choice: push back, or let go. "Because _you're_ all of those things." Nico said, finally allowing himself to smile, just a little. Will's lips curved into that gorgeous, shining grin Nico was starting to think he might be falling in love with.

"We can share?" Will offered. He tilted his head and grinned at him and Nico's heart melted. He leaned in to press his forehead against Will's.

"Hmm, I'll think about it" he said.

And at last Will kissed him. And all Nico could think about then was how warm Will's hands were and how soft his lips were and how good he tasted. And the voice he'd been fighting against was drowned out by another, much stronger voice saying _Will, Will Will._

"Believe me yet?" Will's voice was low and Nico felt a tight pull in his gut at the sound even as he let out a low laugh himself.

"I don't know, I might need some more convincing…"

Will smiled and brought his lips to Nico's again, teasing with his tongue and pressing against him with his hips and running his hands through Nico's hair and down his side. When Will pulled back ever so slightly Nico had to fight against a pout.

"Now?" Will asked, and Nico wasn't sure if his breathlessness was from laughter or lack of oxygen. Either way, it was the best sound Nico had ever heard.

"I'm really not sure, this does feel a lot like a dream." He managed. Will made a ridiculously gorgeous rumbling sound in the back of his throat.

"I know what you mean" he said, lightly brushing Nico's bottom lip with his thumb.

Then he drew back properly, their legs and shoulders still touching, but his face and hands kept more to himself. He sat back and the two of them caught their breath.

It was nice, Nico thought, the two of them sitting together like this. Like a real couple.

Will took his hand again.

"Look, I know this is all still really new, and that you're still getting used to it…" Will said, "I don't want to do anything that's going to ruin this… but I think we should start doing this for real."

"What, making out?" Nico grinned. "Felt pretty real to me, Solace. You know I don't actually think this is a dream."

Will rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

Nico took a deep breath. He wanted to look away again, but kept his eyes locked with Will's. "I know. I do… I'm just scared."

Will looked back at him, blue eyes shining and sincere.

"I'm scared too." He said softly.

"You are?"

"Yeah… but I also think that this could be good for us." He looked almost shy as he spoke. "I'm kind of tired of keeping this a secret."

"Is it a secret? I thought you said Piper already knew."

"Yeah, I mean I know neither of us have been super subtle lately… I guess I just want to be able to show everyone else how I really feel about you."

Nico took a shaky breath.

"Will… I don't know if I'm really comfortable -"

"I know, and it's not like we would be doing this kind of stuff in front of everyone" Will assured him. "Honestly, we don't even have to do anything in front of anyone, if you don't want to. I like that there are parts of you that only I get to see."

Nico was silent for long time.

"Me too" he said eventually.

Another pause.

"We don't have to if you don't want to, Nico." Will said.

"No, it's ok…" Nico said softly. He squeezed Will's hand in his. "I want to."

"You do?" Will's eyes brightened.

"Yeah, I don't want this to be a secret either. I…" Nico paused, took a breath. He looked at Will and his bright blue eyes and golden hair glinting in the last of the sunlight. He drank in the sight of him and thought about how miraculous it was that he was his… that if he wanted, he could go around camp telling everyone that Will Solace was his boyfriend… and Will _wanted_ that. "I want you to keep trying to convince me."

Will grinned. "Good," he said, putting his arm around Nico and pulling him in close, "because if everyone else is gonna know about this then you'll be the only one left to convince."

Nico laughed. He put his head on Will's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Everyone else is going to make fun of us for taking so long, aren't they?" he said.

"About me taking so long to ask you out or about us staying out on the beach alone all night?" Will asked.

"Both."

Will laughed too then, and they stayed on the beach wrapped up together until dinner.

Nico let Will hold his hand all the way back up to the dining pavilion. And when Will squeezed his hand and left him to go and sit at the Apollo table he didn't look embarrassed when Kayla and Austin started cooing and whistling at him. And when Nico sat down with Jason at the Zeus table he didn't even flinch when Jason smirked and asked "how was your date?"

Nico just smiled and locked eyes with Will across the pavilion.

"It was good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See Chapter 2 of the second work in this series 'Between Me and Everyone Else' to read the full conversation between Will and Piper :) Chapter 1 is a companion chapter to 'Enough (1 and 2) also. I'll be adding a third work in the series called 'Between You and Everyone Else' too with some Nico + Everyone Else bonus scenes!
> 
> A heads up as well that I may be making small timeline adjustments to this fic's timeline as I go - nothing major, I'm just figuring out how these scenes string together as I go along. I mean I doubt many of you are paying attention to that anyway but just in case you are... Hopefully it's not too confusing...


	7. The infirmary - day one (evening)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'He'd had only been sitting there for a few minutes when Nico stirred. 
> 
> Will glanced up hopefully, but Nico wasn't awake. 
> 
> His forehead had scrunched up into a frown and his mouth was open, his bottom lip quivering. His whole body had tensed up and Will noticed his feet twitching under the covers. His breathing, so steady before, was suddenly uneven. 
> 
> A nightmare.'
> 
> Three days in the infirmary - day one, part two. Will POV.
> 
> ~Continues from chapter 5~

_Will_

Will hovered at the foot of Nico's bed, clutching a sheaf of paper from his desk in his hands.

Would it be weird to sit down and read over his notes in the chair beside Nico?

The Son of Hades had been fast asleep for hours. After finding out about the werewolf scratches, Will had ordered some bed rest for the remainder of the day and Nico had spent the afternoon curled up under the covers, only waking very briefly in the late afternoon when Piper McLean dropped by to visit.

Nico looked so different when he was asleep. He looked younger and more peaceful without his signature scowl.

Will told himself it was the peaceful part that led him to choose this spot to sit quietly and read over his notes. He'd had a stressful day after all, and Nico was his friend. It was normal to feel more relaxed when in close proximity to your friends… right?

Before he could convince himself otherwise (and before he started looking like a creep standing over Nico as he slept), Will threw himself into the seat next to Nico and curled up decisively with his notes.

Things had started to quieten down in the infirmary at around nine in the evening. Dinner was long over. Campers were starting to retire to their cabins to hang out. The sunlight was dwindling and curfew was in one hour.

There were no new campers coming into the infirmary and everyone staying overnight had been treated. Will's siblings and the satyrs were heading out to have a small campfire gathering since being on healing duty meant they missed out on most of the social activities for the day. As head counsellor, Will volunteered to stay in the infirmary on call; they still had a lot of pretty injured demigods in here.

Most of Will's patients were asleep or resting quietly in their beds. The infirmary was lit only by their bedside lamps and the orange glow from the sunset outside.

He'd had only been sitting there for a few minutes when Nico stirred.

Will glanced up hopefully, but Nico wasn't awake.

His forehead had scrunched up into a frown and his mouth was open, his bottom lip quivering. His whole body had tensed up and Will noticed his feet twitching under the covers. His breathing, so steady before, was suddenly uneven.

A nightmare.

"Nico" Will whispered. He leaned forwards, setting his notes aside.

Nico's arm thrashed at his side and his body jerked violently. Will let out a panicked gasp. Almost involuntarily, his out arm shot out as if to touch Nico's shoulder. He stopped himself at the last second. Nico didn't like being touched. If he didn't wake up Will's touch might become part of the nightmare and he didn't want to make it worse. He adjusted his chair so that he was closer and his face was level with Nico's.

"Nico." He didn't whisper this time, but kept his tone as gentle and even as he could. "Nico, you're ok, it's just a dream."

For a moment, Nico calmed. He took in a long, shaky breath. Will kept talking.

"It's ok… You're ok, Nico. You're safe."

Nico gasped and his eyes shot open. Will's heart almost stopped.

Nico's dark eyes were momentarily filled with pure terror.

Then, just as suddenly as he had woken, Nico sat up. He cast a frenzied look around him and then sunk back onto the pillows taking long, deep breaths.

"Nico?" Will said softly. Nico's head turned on the pillow and their eyes met. The fear was gone now. He looked sheepish. "Are you ok?" Will asked.

"Yeah." Nico whispered. "Sorry about that."

"You don't need to apologise." said Will, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. Nico looked up at the ceiling.

Will waited until Nico's breathing was even again. He hesitated, wondering if Nico would go back to sleep. Instead, he propped himself up on his pillows.

"I'm ok now" he said.

"Do you have nightmares often?" Will asked.

"Not really" Nico shrugged. "Just the usual demigod stuff."

Will very much doubted that what Nico had been through over the past few years counted as 'usual' demigod stuff. Will decided not to push it, and decided not to mention the fact that Will himself very rarely had nightmares, demigod or otherwise…

He waited, in case Nico offered up any more information about the nightmare. Instead he just stared at the ceiling, deep in thought. Eventually he turned back to Will and said "thanks for waking me" in a voice so quiet Will almost didn't hear him.

"That's alright" Will whispered back. He tried to ignore the way his heart skipped, being so close to Nico in the dim light. Now was most definitely not the time.

"Do you want some food?" He asked. "You missed dinner."

Nico looked reluctant, but Will insisted. He had noticed that Nico hadn't eaten much at lunch either, and that he probably hadn't had breakfast.

"Come on, you have to eat if you're going to recover properly from your quest." He said, getting up to fetch some leftover sandwiches from his desk. Nico's eyes followed his movements warily. He accepted the loaded plate Will gave him but only took one half of a sandwich.

"Hey… How much did Coach Hedge tell you about me anyway? When he told you about our quest…" Nico took a teeny bite out of his sandwich and chewed slowly, his dark eyes still trained on Will.

"I dunno." Will shrugged. "Not much, really. Just that he and Reyna were worried because your powers were making you fade away, and that you only barely made it back to camp on time. We didn't get loads of time to chat, what with Mellie giving birth and all…"

"Oh." Nico nodded. He took another tiny bite of sandwich. "That's good." He sounded relieved.

Clearly there was more to the story Nico didn't want to share. Will felt a twinge of annoyance. _Why did he have to keep everything so secret?_ Nico did not seem to notice his annoyance.

There was a long silence in which Nico ate only one single tiny bite of sandwich. He had now eaten probably the equivalent of any normal teenager's single mouthful.

"Not hungry?" Will raised an eyebrow. Nico shot him a frustrated look.

"Not really, if you must know." He snapped.

"Well, I'm serious about you needing food to recover properly." said Will.

Nico glared down at his plate.

"I know that." he said.

"Then why don't you-"

"Because it's hard for me, ok?" Nico snapped. "On the quest I… I lost my appetite."

Will stared intently at Nico's face. He had turned away slightly, like he was shielding himself. Will thought back to when he was treating Nico's wounds before. Nico was strong and had muscles, but he was also skinny. He'd always been on the smaller side, but now Will began to think about all the months that Nico had been unaccounted for before they got word from the Seven that he had joined them in Rome. Where had Nico been all that time? Will thought of the demigods who arrived at camp for the first time having travelled alone across the country. Often they wouldn't eat much because they'd gone so long without proper food. Normal sized meals made them sick.

"Ok." Will sighed. "Let me get you some fruit. You don't have to eat much, but you need to eat something. Preferably something healthy."

He took the plate of sandwiches away and came back with some sliced apple.

"Think you can manage that?" He asked.

"Yes, Doctor Solace" Nico said sarcastically. Will rolled his eyes and tried not to blush.

He wished he could ask about Nico's time in Europe, but he held back. It was too soon to ask probing questions, he could tell. As Nico ate, he seemed to grow comfortable in the silence. Will picked up his notes again so Nico wouldn't feel self-conscious with Will watching him eat.

"Thanks" Nico said when he was done. Will looked up. He smiled.

"Anytime."

Another pause. Will waited again to see if maybe Nico would go back to sleep, but he stayed sitting up. Will put his notes to one side.

"It was cool of Piper to drop by today." Will said, figuring he might as well offer conversation. Nico looked at him, surprised, like he hadn't expected Will to notice Piper's visit.

"Yeah, I guess." His brow furrowed. "I'm still not sure why she came…"

"You're not friends?" Will asked

"I don't have friends." Nico said. They were the same words he'd said to Octavian three days ago. Just like he had back then, Will scoffed.

"What- _ever_ Di Angelo, I saw you hugging Jason Grace earlier today - _and_ high-fiving Annabeth." Will noticed Nico's cheeks flame red as he said this. "You may think you're too edgy for for something as lame as having friends but I'm sorry to inform you - acquaintances don't drop by for surprise hospital visits."

Nico scowled.

"You don't know me, Solace."

Will's lips twisted into a smile.

"You're right. I don't." He said.

_But I would like to…_

"So, what did you and your business associate Piper talk about?" Will smirked.

Nico shot him a dirty look, his shoulders still hunched defensively. He paused, as if deciding how much he should say, then shrugged.

"…the quest, I suppose." He said evasively, Will felt a second twinge of annoyance, this time twinned with jealousy that Piper got to talk to Nico about the quest but he didn't. "…and Leo." Nico finished, quieter this time.

"Oh…"

Will's annoyance fell away. He thought about Leo Valdez and the months he'd spent at camp building the _Argo II_ before leaving on the quest. He thought about how he'd stood next to Nico on the battlefield three days ago and watched Leo shoot into the sky on his dragon with Gaia in tow. He thought about the look in Nico's eyes when he told Will there was nothing they could do to stop Octavian, and the way they'd both flinched when the explosion hit.

Nico watched Will carefully as he thought all this.

"I know you probably think I'm a monster for what happened…" he mumbled, "you know with- with Octavian."

"What?" Will said, taken aback, "Why would you think that?"

Nico closed his eyes, looking pained.

"I let Octavian kill himself."

Will stared at him, incredulous.

"Are you serious? _Octavian_ was the monster. Honestly, I'm kind of shocked you didn't just straight up fight him"

It was Nico's turn to look incredulous. He frowned at Will, equal parts disbelieving and confused.

"What?" he said, "and take down Michael Kahale?"

Will shrugged.

"You could take him."

Nico raised his eyebrows, then shook his head and the tortured look from earlier returned.

"What if that onager is what killed Leo…" he said. His voice was small, like he didn't want to admit what he was thinking.

Will felt his expression soften. He sighed.

"Nico, Leo knew what he was getting himself into." Will said. "You all did. Any one of the seven would have stepped up to be in his place… and I know you would too."

Nico shook his head. "I'm not like the Seven. I wasn't part of the quest. I don't think any of them would have stood back and let Octavian…"

He trailed off, unable to say it out loud again.

"Then why did you do it?" Will asked. His chest ached watching the way Nico fiddled with the top of his bed sheets, fighting to keep his expression from crumbling.

"I…" Nico hesitated. He looked at Will uncertainly before saying "My father says that some deaths shouldn't be prevented."

Will let that sink in.

His father.

Sometimes, when Nico wasn't fighting with his Stygian iron sword or summoning skeletons from the earth, when he was just sleeping peacefully in the infirmary or rolling his eyes at Will, it was hard to remember that Nico's dad was Hades, the Lord of the Dead.

And then there were moments like this. Moments when Nico's sharp eyes were deadly serious and Will couldn't help but stop what he was doing and focus on only him.

Will always wondered what it would be like to be a child of the Big Three. He thought it was strange enough having an Olympian as a parent.

In some ways, though Will didn't like to hear him say it, Nico was right that he wasn't like other demigods. Will might make fun of him for it but Nico had a seriousness about him. A sincerity. He really understood death in a way that most people never would… would never even come close. Other campers might find that creepy but not Will. Will had seen and fought death with his bare hands in the heat of a battle, struggling to keep demigods alive. He knew that really this understanding just made Nico wise.

Maybe that's why he had trusted Nico when he hadn't stepped in to stop Octavian.

"You think your father was telling you that Octavian's death was fate?"

Nico was still uncertain "…maybe. I thought so, then. But now I'm not so sure. Maybe things would be different for Leo if I had done something."

"Yeah, maybe." Will said "or maybe if Octavian hadn't shot that onager Gaia wouldn't have died and instead she would have killed Leo and all the rest of us and taken over the world."

Nico chewed his lip and Will sighed.

"Listen, maybe the Seven wouldn't have done what you did if they had been in your position… but maybe that's exactly why the fates chose you to be the one standing by that onager and not them."

Nico looked skeptical. "Do you really believe that?"

"My dad's the god of prophecy and healing" Will said. "There's a reason those things are linked. The best healers have to be able to decide when something has been permanently damaged and when something can be fixed. I think you made the right call."

"You do?" Nico stopped fiddling with the bed sheets as he said it, hopeful for once. Will held his gaze.

"I really do." Will said.

Nico's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile.

"You know you were the one who really chose me to be by the onager, not the fates." He said. "I wouldn't have been there if you hadn't have found me in the battle."

Will smiled "You're right."

"So why me?" Nico asked.

"Because I trust you, dummy. I knew if I asked you'd be there." Will paused. For a moment, they locked eyes and Will felt a familiar warmth spread through his chest. "And you were."

Nico smiled for real this time. They sat in easy silence for another few minutes, just thinking. Then Nico stifled a yawn.

"Maybe you should get some more sleep." Will said softly.

Nico nodded, his eyes drooping. He slid down under the covers again.

"Thanks for talking to me about this." he said sleepily.

"Of course." Will said. He reached for his notes again and settled back down in his chair.

He sat there working until midnight, when one of the satyrs came in to take over for the night and he staggered back to the Apollo cabin, collapsing into his bunk and drifting off to sleep himself with his head full of Nico.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of the start of Will and Nico's conversation - particularly the bits about Nico needing more to eat were inspired by the fic 'Always towards the sun' by TheTimeTraveler24 - I love this fic and really recommend it, especially if you love Will Solace :)
> 
> I uploaded a companion/bonus chapter from day one in the infirmary in Part Three of this series 'Between You and Everyone Else' which features Piper's visit (on a bit of a Piper kick recently, I know)!
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who has left comments and kudos so far <3 <3


	8. Not a crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Solace did *not* have a crush on Nico di Angelo.
> 
> He was just... keeping an eye out.
> 
> Will POV.
> 
> ~Takes place in the time between The Last Olympian and The Mark of Athena~

_Will_

Will Solace did _not_ have a crush on Nico di Angelo.

Like, did he respect him for how he'd successfully convinced Lord Hades, the literal God of the Underworld, to change his mind about a millennia-long Godly family feud and save the day, despite the fact that said God actively hated his guts and had only ever been a terrible father?

Yes.

Had he been a little disappointed a year before that when he met and treated Nico at the infirmary and then never got to talk to him again?

Yes.

Did he think it was super weird that Percy didn't explain to anyone why Nico had left and that neither Chiron or Annabeth or anyone else seemed to have a problem with this?

Super yes.

He could go on…

Had he been impressed when his sister Victoria ran into the make-shift infirmary on Olympus and told him how Nico had parted the crowds of Kronos's army and strolled into the city whilst an army of the dead rose around him as if at the command of Nico himself?

Obviously.

And was he, as a healer, profoundly concerned that in the aftermath of such a feat the son of Hades didn't even drop by the infirmary for a check up?

Yeah. A little bit.

Was it normal for this concern to develop into an admittedly creepy habit of constantly watching out for Nico whenever they were in the same space at camp?

Some might say that…

But that habit had died out now. It wasn't creepy or out of the ordinary for Will to drop by the sword fighting arena a couple of weeks after the Battle of Manhattan after he noticed Nico heading that way after lunch…

Right?

Right.

He needed to get a grip.

—

Will had been thinking about Nico a lot since the battle.

He'd thinking about everything a lot to be honest… about Michael, about Lee, about his sudden responsibility as head counsellor, about the fact that he was not the oldest person in the Apollo cabin and about how that made him feel like a total fraud (even though his siblings were right that he was the cabin's best healer and that his year being a full time camper in charge of the infirmary during a war gave him way more experience than any of the older, fighting campers).

He thought a lot about his mom.

After the battle he'd spoken to her on the phone at the Big House. He'd told her as much as he dared about the war with Kronos. She'd told him about how having him at camp full-time the past year had made her start thinking that maybe she should get back to touring again.

It seemed like Will living at camp year-round was going to become a permanent thing.

He thought a lot about how many campers they hadn't been able to save. And he thought a lot about how maybe he could have done a better job patching up the ones they had saved.

That's how this all started.

He'd been re-reading a lot of his notes lately, trying to figure out what he could be doing better. And it was then that he found his notes from the last battle. His notes on Nico and Underworld magic.

How on earth had Nico done all of that Underworld magic without any negative consequences to his body?

This question had not occurred to Will during the immediate aftermath when he was constantly in the infirmary. Back then not much had occurred to him that was not sleeping and healing.

By the time it had occurred to him it was much too late to approach Nico di Angelo with his concerns.

He barely knew Nico. It had been well over a week now and he seemed to be perfectly healthy. Will didn't want to be weird about it.

So instead he just started to… keep an eye out.

And the more he did, the more he started to realise that Nico di Angelo was even more interesting than he had first thought.

(And he had already been pretty interested).

—

At meals, Will marvelled at how Nico never made a big deal about sitting up at the head table with Chiron and Mr D.

He watched Ares campers jostle to chat with him at the braziers.

He watched the way Nico chatted to Chiron, quiet and serious. Something about the way he held himself as he talked made him seem older than he really was…

He watched the way Nico's eyes constantly lingered on the Poseidon table, and how his gaze followed Percy and Annabeth whenever they left the dining pavilion together.

—

In the infirmary, Will heard other campers talk about how Nico was using his powers to help him build the Hades cabin.

Some of them were freaked out by the skeletons. Some of them thought it was awesome.

One day, one of the Athena campers said that they kept seeing Nico talking to himself at the hearth in the middle of the pavilion.

Another day, a camper said they'd overheard Chiron asking Nico about a trip he'd taken to the Underworld overnight.

Did he just go down there to visit sometimes? Like a field trip? The campers asked each other, not sure whether to be freaked out or impressed.

Will was impressed.

What did he _do_ down there exactly?

"Just visiting friends" Will overheard Nico say to Percy one day at the campfire, when Percy had asked the same question. Percy had then put his arm around Annabeth and Nico left to go to bed early.

—

In those few weeks where Will watched after Nico, trying to figure out if he was healthy or not, something changed.

Will had started to realise that Nico di Angelo was kind of awesome.

He also realised that Nico didn't really like it here very much.

The day that Will convinced himself he had entirely innocent motivations to follow Nico to the training arena and watch training, Nico was tired.

Despite this, Will watched in awe as he seemingly effortlessly beat one of his siblings, two sons of Ares and a daughter of Hermes in one on one combat.

Percy broke away from training with Clarisse to spar with him. A bunch of campers gathered round to watch.

Percy was an amazing sword-fighter, but Nico was a pretty worthwhile opponent.

Nonetheless, it wasn't super surprising when the fight ended with Percy winning. He had knocked Nico's weapon away and was standing with his hand round Nico's wrist, holding Nico in position so he remained at a disadvantage. Will noticed Nico's chest heaving, whether from the fight or the position Percy had him in Will wasn't sure.

Percy let him go, grinning.

Immediately afterwards Annabeth got up to challenge Percy to a spar herself.

They fought. Annabeth won. Nico watched from the opposite side of the arena to Will. He looked like he was going to be sick.

At dinner, Will looked for Nico. He didn't show up.

No one saw Nico at camp again for months.

—

When he did return, Percy was missing.

Annabeth was going mad with worry.

She told everyone at the head counsellor meeting that she'd sent out Iris messages to everyone she could think of.

Nico had replied instantly.

He stopped by camp and spent almost the entire visit in the Big House talking to Annabeth and Chiron in the Big House.

That's when the rumours started.

"Do you think Nico has a thing for Annabeth?" someone asked.

"What?" Will asked incredulously.

"Nico di Angelo?" Kayla asked, perplexed.

"Yeah."

Will's siblings were crowded at the Apollo table for breakfast. It was close to dawn. There weren't many other campers up yet.

"It's possible." Kayla said.

"What?" Will said again.

His siblings discussed the theory, pointing out some of the things Will had noticed himself…

"That's ridiculous." Will said.

He felt annoyance rise up inside him. Not just because he felt wholeheartedly that his siblings were wrong, but also because he was starting to realise that he was jealous.

Will's siblings kept gossiping, repeating theories and stories they'd heard from Hermes and Aphrodite campers.

No one brought up Will's own private theory, that it seemed like Percy was the one Nico was really crushing on. No one else had seen the obvious clues.

For some reason, this made Will even more annoyed.

"Oh my gods, stop talking about it." He said through gritted teeth. Kayla raised her eyebrows at him.

A few days later, Nico dropped by camp again, to check in with Annabeth on the search for Percy. He stayed for lunch and Will found himself looking up at the head table every few seconds.

Kayla noticed.

"You like him, don't you?" She asked, that night, when the two of them were sitting out the front of their cabin, watching the sun set.

"What?" Will frowned.

"Nico di Angelo. You've been watching him."

"No I haven't."

Will was a terrible liar.

"Ok, maybe I have. That's normal. He's an interesting guy. It's not every day you see someone summon zombies and teleport through shadows."

Will didn't know why he was being so defensive.

"You know none of us would respect you as head counsellor any less if you were out." Kayla said gently.

Oh.

Maybe he did know why.

Later that week he came out to his siblings. They were all super supportive.

He didn't mention Nico di Angelo because he did _not_ have a crush on him.

—

After that one instance of not mentioning him though, Will couldn't stop thinking about Nico.

He started speculating once they figured out that Percy was at the Roman camp. Kayla had become his sounding board.

Did she think that maybe Nico was at the Roman camp, when he wasn't at this one?

Why hadn't he said anything?

Was he still visiting the Underworld regularly when he wasn't at camp?

Did she think that would have a negative impact on his health?

Did she remember how pale Nico had looked when he first showed up at camp all that time ago after the Labyrinth?

Did she think that was from the Labyrinth or from being in the Underworld?

If he was going to Camp Jupiter, maybe he was able to get healing there…

"What you think, Kayla?"

Kayla rolled her eyes.

—

The next time anyone at camp heard about Nico, the _Argo II_ had already set off for Rome.

Coach Hedge sent a message that Chiron shared at the head counsellor meeting telling them that there was a new prophecy for Annabeth and that Nico di Angelo had been captured.

When Will told his cabin-mates about it later that day, his voice shook. Kayla gave him a meaningful look.

_Shit._

Will felt his heart plummet right out of his chest and into his shoes.

He had a crush on Nico di Angelo.

And it was far too late to do anything about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ideas for these chapters always start out cute in my notes like "Will watches Nico sword fight and is pining lol" and then by the time its on the page it has become rambly and serious and full of backstory. 
> 
> Oh well, I'll figure out how to write real fluff someday 🤷


	9. Scared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh come on, di Angelo, just admit it, you're not that scary."  
> "Not that scary?" Nico raised his eyebrows, but Will's smug grin remained fixed in place.  
> Well if that's how it's going to be…
> 
> Will asks Nico to show him his Underworld powers. Nico POV.
> 
> ~Takes place just under two months post-BoO~

_Nico_

The ocean was so still that night they could almost have been at the lake. The horizon was spotted with shimmering light from the setting sun and waves washed against the shore with a gentle hiss.

Nico could feel Will's warmth at his side, his head resting on his shoulder. The wind rustled his golden hair, tickling Nico's jaw.

Nico turned his eyes away from the glistening sea and smiled down at his friend… that is, if you could still call them _just_ friends.

Will stirred.

He rubbed his eyes and scrunched up his nose (adorable). It wasn't often that Will was the sleepy one, but it had been a full on day at the infirmary.

"Hey" Nico said softly.

He was still kind of getting used to being relaxed around Will. Most of the time at camp he felt nervous still, which made him seem guarded to the other campers. But with Will, when it was just the two of them, Nico didn't really want to be guarded (though having Will so close to him definitely made him plenty nervous, just… a different kind of nervous).

"Hey" Will smiled.

 _Do just friends smile at friends like that?_ Nico wondered.

It seemed unlikely. But then again, every friendship Nico had developed since the war ended felt unlikely to him.

Logically, Nico knew that the way that Will acted around him was different to how he was around everyone else. Logically, he knew that if two people at camp were acting the way he and Will acted he would absolutely be joining the Aphrodite campers in their admonishments to 'just kiss already'. And yet, even as Will sat up, giving Nico's hand a quick squeeze, Nico couldn't quite bring himself to believe it. Not yet…

Will stretched and ran a hand through his hair.

How could someone who was asleep just moments before seem so awake already?

He glanced at Nico and grinned. Nico felt a familiar flutter in his stomach.

Will looked around them, his eyes lingering on the forest to their left.

They were sitting near their favourite spot; on a grassy spot overlooking the beach. The sun was low enough now that the shadows from the trees almost reached them. The dappled patterns from the branches flickered near their feet. Will eyed the shadows, deep in thought.

"Could you show me your powers?"

Nico's head turned so sharply he almost got whiplash.

" _What_?"

Will's eyes were sincere, despite the absolutely ridiculous question.

"Your powers." Will said. "Could you show me?"

"What do you mean?" Nico scowled. He pulled back defensively.

"I dunno… I just wondered…" Will blushed, looking embarrassed now.

"Wondered _what_ , Solace?"

Will didn't answer.

"I thought you said I shouldn't be using my powers" Nico accused.

"Well, no, not excessively." Will rolled his eyes. "I only need to see a little bit… I've just never really seen you use them outside of… you know, the war."

"Because you _told_ me not to" Nico said.

"I didn't say not to ever! I just said to be more careful!" Will was, to Nico's annoyance, grinning now. "Come on, you should be glad I'm letting you off the hook for once. Show me something!"

Nico frowned skeptically.

"Like what?" he said, "It's not a particularly useful skillset outside of fighting monsters and freaking people out."

Will laughed.

"You're not going to freak me out, di Angelo."

Nico looked at him long and hard. Will's eyes glinted with laughter still. His grin didn't waver. Nico sighed.

"Fine."

He shifted so that he was kneeling and turned to face Will. Will's face lit up in excitement and he shifted too. He watched with an annoying kid-like eagerness as Nico stretched one hand above the grass.

The ground quivered for a second or two before the soil broke and a collection of tiny bones popped out from among the blades of grass and scurried together into the shape of a mouse. Nico turned his hand so that his palm was facing up and held it out for the little skeleton to climb onto.

Will's delighted laugh rang out over the hill as the mouse ran in a tight circle on Nico's palm. Nico glanced up, transfixed by the way Will was watching him.

 _Why isn't he afraid of me?_ Nico wondered for the thousandth time.

He held out his hand so that Will could take a closer look.

Will tentatively raised a fingertip to the mouse's tiny, boney nose. The mouse made a chattery clicking noise, perhaps attempting a squeak and Will looked up at Nico, eyes flashing in wonder.

They sat for a moment, the mouse temporarily forgotten as they gazed at one another, each of them lost in awe.

"Want to hold him?" Nico asked.

Will nodded eagerly and sat back, holding out a hand. Nico gently tilted his palm so that the mouse rolled onto Will's. It chittered again and clawed at the edge of Will's sleeve.

"He's cute." Will said.

Nico rolled his eyes. Will laughed at that.

"Oh come on, di Angelo, just admit it, you're not _that_ scary."

"Not that scary?" Nico raised his eyebrows, but Will's smug grin remained fixed in place.

_Well if that's how it's going to be…_

Nico grabbed the hand that Will still had outstretched and pushed it to the ground. The mouse went flying and scuttled away, heading for the forest. Their fingers were entangled as they hit the grass together and as soon as Nico felt the coolness of the earth and moisture from the grass he immediately focused his energy, not breaking eye contact with Will.

Will's eyes widened as the grass under their hands shrivelled and grew dry. Nico watched Will's gaze fall down to watch the blades around their fingers blacken and curl up. Nico continued to focus until all of the grass around them had withered. Some insects even wriggled to the surface and climbed up onto their hands where they curled up around Nico's fingers and were still.

"Whoa" Will said softly. Nico had got his attention, but when he looked back up it was still awe on his face. He was still more impressed at Nico's power than anything else.

That made Nico annoyed.

He removed his hand from Will's and melted into the shadows, stepping out again on Will's other side. Will started and twisted around, trying to see him then yelping as he realised that he was right behind him.

_That's more like it._

Nico grinned. He waited just long enough for Will to process what had just happened and when Will started to grin too, Nico smirked and stepped back into the shadows. This time he reappeared a few feet away, walking away with his back to Will, as if he was heading back to camp.

"Nico, wait!"

Nico heard Will start to scramble to his feet. He didn't look back and instead flicked his hand out to the side.

In response to the gesture, a skeletal hand shot out of the ground behind him and grabbed Will's ankle. Will cried out in surprise and Nico turned back to look just in time to see Will fall to the ground.

"What the?" Will looked down to see what he'd tripped on and then yelled and jerked his foot away in panic when he saw the skeletal hand. The hand waved cheerfully and then sunk back down into the ground.

Will was panting from the sudden rush of action, staring at the spot where the hand had been in disbelief.

Nico stepped once more into the shadow and appeared in front of Will again. Now he was the one grinning smugly.

"Scared yet, Solace?"

Will's expression was still fixed in surprise, though his lips began to curl up as he processed what Nico had just done. Nico held out a hand to help Will up, which Will accepted, laughing now.

"You wish, Death Boy. I'm a healer, it'd take more than that to spook me."

Will seemed breathless, his hand still gripping Nico's, though they were both standing now. Nico felt his heartbeat quicken and stepped back slightly to put some distance between them. Will smiled, as if he knew what Nico was thinking.

Nico let go of Will's hand and smiled uncertainly back at him. He glanced down at the now blackened and broken ground at their feet. Will's smile widened.

"Thanks for showing me" he said, his voice casual and warm and comforting all at once.

"Do you want to head to dinner or shall we stay here a little longer?"

Nico's thoughts raced, transfixed once more by the way Will's eyes were shining, bright and nervous. He was definitely staring a little more than necessary.

And all at once Nico realised that if he was going to accept that something more than friends really was going on here, sooner or later he was going to actually have to _do_ something about it.

That thought scared Nico whole lot more than he could ever scare Will with a few skeletons and some shadow travel…

But then again, was that a bad thing?

"Let's stay here." Nico said.

Will smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had this scene in my head for soooo long. Took a few tries to get it right. 
> 
> Thanks again to everyone who has been commenting and leaving kudos, it's so great to hear what people think :)
> 
> I'm going to get back to the three days in the infirmary for the next few chapters I think!
> 
> Toff x


	10. The infirmary - day two (morning)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico tries (and fails) to get his brain to stop thinking about how cute Will Solace is...
> 
> Warning: Fluff.
> 
> Three days in the infirmary - day two, part one. Nico POV.
> 
> ~Continues from chapter 7~

_Nico_

Nico awoke to a hushed infirmary bathed in warm orange light.

"You're awake!"

_Ugh. So loud..._

Nico turned his bleary gaze towards the bed opposite his, where Will was checking the pulse of a Roman girl from the Third Cohort. In the time Nico had been in the infirmary, she had yet to stir.

Nico's stomach shifted at the sight of Will's bright smile and brighter hair. Nico's sleepy brain couldn't muster up the energy to be embarrassed at the thought of how the light was catching on his curls as if they were made of gold. Will always looked good, but today he seemed especially attractive with his hair a little tousled and his arms bare under his scrubs.

_ Gods. _ _Where did these thoughts come from?_

Despite the pleasant view, Nico's body was not feeling especially happy to be awake. As Nico sat up in an attempt to lessen the fog in his brain (a decidedly pining fog), his arms and shoulders screamed in protest. His bandaged cuts stung.

Nico winced.

Will finished up with the Roman girl and moved across the room to stand at his bedside.

"Good morning, Sunshine" Will teased. 

"Don't call me Sunshine" Nico grumbled. Will just laughed.

"How did you sleep?" he asked cheerily.

Nico made a non-committal grunt in response, though truthfully he'd slept amazingly. Right through the night and not a single dream since the nightmare that Will had woken him up from in the early evening yesterday.

"You missed breakfast, but I saved you some fruit!" Will said, thrusting a bowl under Nico's nose.

Nico's stomach turned and he pushed the bowl away.

" _How_ are you so cheerful this _early_?" he complained.

"Uh, it's after ten" Will said.

Nico groaned and fell back against his pillows, ignoring the flair of pain this caused his shoulders. He threw one arm over his face. Will laughed.

"So. Cheerful." Nico said, unimpressed, into his arm.

"Well," Will said matter of factly, picking up his notes from Nico's bedside table and making a note of something, "Some of us need to be up early every morning to work."

Nico scowled. He was not appreciative of the judgement in Will's tone.

"Hey _you_ were the one who said I needed bed rest" he grumbled.

Everything hurt. He was somehow still tired after hours of decent sleep, and now Solace was berating him for not doing enough? He clung to the negative, grumpy thoughts, thinking they seemed safer than whatever it was his brain was trying to do to him before that.

 _Honestly di Angelo, you literally_ just _worked through the torture of having an unrequited crush on one cute guy, now is not the time to develop a brand new one._

Besides, Solace was so unbelievably out of his league. He couldn't think of anyone at camp who was less likely to be interested in Nico. 

Will must have noticed the return of his scowl and figured it was as a result of his bed rest comment because his eyes softened.

"You're right. How're your arms?"

Nico shifted uncomfortably.

"Sore," he admitted.

"That's normal," Will nodded. "My healing yesterday was the first time the cuts have been exposed in a while. It might sting for a few days before they heal fully. Here-" Will held out his hand expectantly and Nico leaned forwards so that his forearm was in Will's grip.

Will ran his hands up Nico's arm, over his bicep and along his shoulder blades. Nico tried hard not to blush, but his skin burned wherever Will touched - this time in a good way as opposed to the acid burn of his cuts. At first it was soothing… the warmth from Will's fingers seemed to seep into his skin, but soon he felt as if the heat was coursing through his veins, straight to his brain. His heart thumped in his chest. Nico risked a glance at Will, but his face was tensed in concentration, focused on Nico's wounds.

Usually being the sole focus of someone's attention would have caused every instinct in Nico's body to scream _RUN_ … but now, Nico found his own mind fixate on Will right back.

Gods, he was hopeless.

"Your heart rate's a little fast" Will told him. _No kidding…_ "But the wounds feel a little better. And your exhaustion from all that shadow travel is way down. No, not _that_ far down" Will clarified when Nico's eyes lit up hopefully. "I'm still ordering no Underworldly powers for at least a week."

" _What_?"

"Doctors orders, di Angelo. You are not changing my mind on this." Will eyed him sternly. He passed his hands over Nico's arms and shoulders one last time. Nico shivered at the tingling sensation this caused, spreading across his entire torso.

When Will pulled away both the tingling and the stinging sensation from his cuts had completely stopped. Nico felt about a million pounds lighter.

"Whoa" Nico stretched his arms out and twisted his shoulders in astonishment. "Thanks" he muttered to Will.

"Anytime" Will smiled. Then he stepped back and tapped the bowl of fruit from before. "Now make sure you eat something. I've got a list of tasks you can be helping me with today and I am _not_ stopping by for any more check ups this morning."

Nico's glare returned at the smug look on Will's lips, though he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they wouldn't get to spend the morning talking like yesterday.

"Fine by me" he sighed and he grudgingly tucked into his fruit bowl as Will turned his back and returned to checking up on the other campers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short & sweet chapter this time :)
> 
> Thank you everyone for the love in comment / kudos form! Less cuteness and more drama coming soon for the next infirmary instalment. Might also do a Jason visits chapter for 'Between You and Everyone Else'...


	11. The infirmary - day two (evening)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Actually, could you watch her?" Will asked. His eyes were clouded with such concern, Nico doubted he could have said no even if he wanted to.
> 
> "Yeah, sure. Of course." Nico said. 
> 
> Will had only stepped away for a minute or two before all Hades broke loose.
> 
> -
> 
> The Apollo campers discover Nico's ability to sense when people are close to Death. Nico POV.
> 
> ~continues from chapter 10~

_Nico_

As the sun started began to creep towards the horizon that afternoon, Nico noticed Will checking the pulse of the patient diagonally opposite him again.

It was the Roman girl from the Third Cohort. She'd been unconscious all day and Nico figured she must be pretty seriously ill if they couldn't bring her back with the rest of the Legion. As Nico focused on her, he felt an uneasy chill in his gut. He could sense Death lingering close to her, unsure whether or not to strike.

Nico's focus shifted to Will, whose hand was on the girl's forehead. His brow was furrowed and jaw set firmly. He closed his eyes; so focused on his patient. Nico wondered if Will knew what was wrong with her.

Will pulled his hand away and chewed his lip.

"What's wrong with her?" Nico asked softly. Will looked up at him, as if surprised to remember there were other people in the room.

Nico had moved to stand at the foot of her bed. He'd been helping the Apollo campers with infirmary tasks for most of the day, with the exception of a small break to catch up with Jason and Piper over lunch.

"We… we don't really know" Will said, his voice uncertain. A rare thing for him. "Some kind of madness maybe… if Mr D were here he might be able to help. Clovis thought it would be better if we kept her asleep."

Nico watched her uneasily, sensing the dark chill that hung over her bed. He wondered if he should say anything to Will. But when he looked at the way his blue eyes were scrunched up, his eyebrows knitted together so tightly, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"What's her name?" Nico asked.

Will's brows relaxed ever so slightly.

"Kana" he said.

"Kana" Nico repeated, looking down at the girl intently, as if just watching at her and saying her name might lessen the chill that only he could feel. Her face was smooth and calm, her black hair neatly pulled to one side over one shoulder. Her chest moved up and down unsteadily.

"Actually, could you watch her?" Will asked. "I have to help Kayla with removing some stitches, but… I'm a little worried. Her heart rate is way up today."

His eyes were clouded with such concern, Nico doubted he could have said no even if he wanted to.

"Yeah, sure. Of course." Nico said. He moved to take a seat beside her and Will smiled gratefully.

He had only stepped away for a minute or two before all Hades broke loose.

Nico was watching Kana, half thinking of what might be wrong with her and half distracted and thinking about Will, when all of a sudden the dark aura Nico could sense around her seemed to quiver and almost thicken.

Nico sat bolt upright in his chair.

"Um… Will?" he didn't take his eyes off Kana as he called out. Her expression had been neutral moments before but now her face twisted in discomfort, as if someone had touched something very hot or very cold to her forehead.

"Yeah?" Will stuck his head out from where he stood at the bed next to the infirmary door, on the other side of the room. He and Kayla were in the middle of undoing the stitches on one of the Hermes campers.

"I think you might want to -"

Two things happened at once. Kana's eyes suddenly snapped open with a horrifying, rattling gasp, and the infirmary doors crashed inwards, revealing three campers, one bleeding heavily from the back of his head.

The previously near-silent infirmary erupted into a cacophony of shouts. Nico jumped up and let out a cry in surprise at Kana's sudden awakening. Will and Kayla yelled out in response to the crash of the doors and the two campers supporting the infirmary's newest patient were both screeching in panic.

Nico glanced down at Kana and felt panic swell in his chest as he realised that something terrible was about to happen.

"Will!" he said urgently. But the infirmary was still full of shouting.

"Oh my Gods, Cecil, are you ok?"

"What happened?"

"Kayla! You've got to help us!"

"Cecil fell from the top of the lava wall!"

"Will!" Nico said, louder this time. Kana's eyes had begun to dart rapidly around the room.

"He's hit his head!"

"We think he's lost a lot of blood!"

"When did this happen?"

" _Will_!" Nico was properly panicking now, Kana's eyes became more urgent and her face started to go red.

Will stood alert and frozen in place to the side of the door. His head swivelled between Nico and Cecil, who was now slumped unconscious and bleeding against the campers who had brought him in; Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin and a camper Nico recognised as Finn, a child of Hermes.

But as far as Will could tell all that Kana had done was wake up. He caught Nico's eye and seemed alarmed at the urgency in Nico's voice.

Everyone watched as he seemed to make up his mind and took a step towards Cecil.

The second that he did Nico felt his heart clench as if someone had just stabbed it with a shard of ice.

The air around Kana seemed to tighten and Nico thought surely everyone else would be able to sense it. How close they were to losing her.

"Will, stop!" His voice was sharp, panicked. Will, Kayla, Lou Ellen and Finn turned to look at him and Will's face whitened at the expression on Nico's face.

"What do you-"

"She's not going to make it!" Nico managed to gasp.

"What do you mean she's not going to-"

As he spoke, Kana's entire body began to convulse and shudder violently. Nico grasped her hand instinctively.

" _Di immortales_ " Nico heard Will curse, though Nico couldn't see his face anymore. His entire focus had shifted to Kana, whose movements were rapidly growing out of control.

For one horrible moment Kana's eyes met Nico's and a kind of acceptance passed over them, as if she knew. The possibility of Death became so strong that all of a sudden Nico thought in panic that somehow his touching her might have sped up the process.

And then Will was there, and Kayla was giving rapid instructions to the others, prompting Lou Ellen to nod and then sprint out of the infirmary. Will took Kana's other hand in his own and began to murmur a hymn, gently rolling her onto her side as he did so.

Nico made to let go of Kana but Will shook his head and held up his spare hand in a 'not yet' gesture.

Kayla appeared at Nico's side, her eyes on her watch, counting under her breath.

Kana's movements began to slow. About ten seconds passed before she finally fell still, though her eyes were still darting around the room fearfully. Will set her hand down beside her and continued chanting his hymn. He nodded at Kayla, who stopped counting.

Nico relaxed slightly. Death still hung around them heavily, though it didn't feel as urgent as before. He glanced over at Cecil, who was now sat on a different bed, Finn holding a wad of bandages against the back of his head.

Kayla grabbed a clipboard from the side of Kana's bed and made a note on it.

"Shall I-?" she asked Will, but Will had nodded and gestured towards Cecil before she could finish asking. Kayla looked worriedly at Nico and hurried across to help Cecil. Will hadn't broken his hymn and his eyes never left Kana's face. Nico felt the aura of Death ease off again ever so slightly.

"She's getting better" Nico said softly. Will frowned in confusion at that, though he didn't stop the hymn.

The infirmary door opened again and Lou Ellen rushed back into the room with Clovis and Chiron behind her.

"What happened?" Chiron asked calmly.

"We don't really know" Nico said, so that Will didn't have to stop chanting. "She just woke up, out of nowhere, and started… shaking."

Chiron nodded gravely.

"Do you think it's safe to send her to sleep?" Chiron addressed his question to Will. Only then did Will stop singing and look up, face pale.

"I think so." he said hoarsely. "Though we have to do more than that soon, or it'll only happen again… and we might not be here to catch it next time."

As Will spoke he looked at Nico intently. Nico felt nervous, as if he was being accused of something.

Chiron nodded to Clovis, who stepped forward. Nico finally let go of Kana's hand and stood back so that Clovis could take his place. The son of Hypnos placed his hand on Kana's forehead and her eyes closed as she slipped into sleep once more.

Will seemed to relax. He looked over at Kayla and the others. Cecil was awake now, pale but sitting upright on the bed closest to the door.

"Are you alright?" Will asked.

"'M fine" Cecil nodded, with a feeble thumbs up. Kayla was applying a bandage to his head.

"It's not too serious, just a lot of blood." She reassured them.

"Sorry for scaring you guys." Cecil mumbled.

Will turned and looked at Nico, stunned.

"How did you do that?" He asked. Nico shifted uneasily.

"Do what?"

"How did you know? About…" Will looked down at Kana, his expression uneasy, as if he was about to be sick. Nico felt dread creep up into his chest. He had done something wrong. He had scared them.

Nico swallowed the lump that had appeared unbidden in his throat. He knew he shouldn't have let Will keep him here… hadn't he said it was a terrible idea for a child of Hades to be in a room of healing people.

Will looked sickened. Nico felt ill too. Chiron and Clovis watched the two of them carefully.

"She… she almost died." Will said. His voice shook.

"I know." Nico said.

"You saved her." Will said.

Nico blinked.

_What?_

Will looked up at Chiron in distress. "I was going to… If Nico hadn't said something…" Will shuddered.

"Will, it's fine. Everyone's fine." Kayla said soothingly from where she stood at Cecil's side. Cecil nodded reassuringly.

"It was our fault - we distracted you guys" Lou Ellen mumbled nervously.

"It is no one's fault. Kayla is right; everyone is safe." Chiron said. His voice was warm and reassuring. Both Will and Lou Ellen seemed to relax somewhat. Chiron turned to Nico. "You did well to speak up, Nico."

Nico stood rooted to the spot, his mind reeling, trying to understand their words.

"How did you know she could have died?" Clovis asked him.

"I…" Nico glanced at Chiron, hoping maybe he would explain, but he simply nodded for Nico to continue. Nico took a shaky breath. "It's a Hades thing… I can sense when people are close to death. When Will stepped towards Cecil… it's like I could tell the decision would result in her death. Even before that I could feel that she might die. She _still_ might… I can still feel it."

Will looked horrified at Nico's words and Nico tried not to meet his eyes. He felt his heart sink.

Then Chiron stepped forward, and the conversation shifted to how they were going to go about properly healing Kana.

Will grabbed his notes and he and Chiron discussed in earnest what might be wrong and what the next steps were, especially without the aid of Mr D. Chiron made suggestions of what kind of monster might have done this to her and Will suggested possible remedies accordingly, occasionally prodding Clovis awake to get his opinion too.

Nico dropped back as the conversation got technical, retreating back to his bed to think. Kayla came over to check on him and Nico was surprised to find that she was smiling and relaxed around him.

Eventually Cecil was instructed to pick a bed and stay overnight as a precaution, though he was allowed to head out for dinner with Kayla, Clovis and the others first. Chiron helped Will perform some sort of healing magic on Kana, then he too left the infirmary. 

Nico was at this point settled under the covers in his bed. He watched Will carefully, the way his shoulders were slumped in exhaustion.

Will looked up. Noticed Nico watching him. Smiled.

He moved across the room to sit with Nico.

"You should probably get some rest after all that" Nico said.

Will seemed to ignore him. He sighed heavily, his eyes still on Kana. They sat in silence for a while before Will shifted to smile up at Nico again.

"Thank you" he said. His voice was soft, barely above a whisper.

"I… What for?" Nico frowned.

"You know what for. For helping, for saving her." Will said. Nico was silent for a while. Will almost rolled his eyes at him. "You do understand that you saved her, right?" He said.

"I-" Nico hesitated. It wasn't that he was selling himself short. He knew his powers and what he was capable of. He wasn't ashamed of what he could do and he knew that it was important and valuable. He knew deep down that a lot of his anger was directed at the fact that no one fully appreciated how much his powers were necessary… He just wished sometimes that his powers didn't make him look like such a creep in front of everyone else.

"I scared you." Nico said.

"No, you didn't." Will shook his head. "I was scared. But not because of you. We were lucky you were here. Just like up on half-blood hill with Octavian."

Will spoke firmly, despite the way his hands were still shaking. He reached out and touched Nico's shoulder lightly. Nico watched him, uncertain.

"I'm serious." Will said.

"You're not freaked out?" Nico asked. Will left out a breath, a huff of laughter. He shook his head, grinning.

"Not freaked out, Death Boy. Just grateful."

Nico watched him carefully. Behind his smile, he still looked a little shaken.

"You know you're the one who actually saved her." Nico said.

"I know." said Will. It wasn't arrogance, just the truth. "I just don't like thinking that I made the wrong call. What you said about my decision… to go for Cecil first…" he trailed off.

"You didn't know." Nico said.

"I know that" Will murmured. "Still sucks."

Nico nodded, understanding. Slowly, Will began to smile again.

"What's funny?" Nico asked. Will started to laugh under his breath. " _What_?"

"I can't believe you thought it would be a _bad_ thing having a son of Hades in an infirmary." Will said, continuing to laugh incredulously. "You really are ridiculous, you know that."

Nico blushed and shrugged Will's hand off his shoulder.

"Stop that." He said, when Will kept laughing. "Solace, is it really appropriate to be laughing when someone almost _died_ today?" Will just laughed harder.

"Sorry, sorry, you're just like, a walking heart monitor with your death sense. That's like literally one of the best assets the infirmary could have" He chuckled.

"Stop _laughing_." Nico growled. "You're so _weird_."

"Sorry." Will tried to stop, wiping his eyes and taking deep breaths to steady himself. "I guess I am pretty tired." he admitted. "You don't go through two wars as a healer without picking up a dark sense of humour though."

Will grinned at Nico and Nico felt his opinion of the son of Apollo shifting yet again to incorporate this new information. He gave Will a quizzical look before hesitantly returning his smile. Then Will stood up and finally admitted that he better go get some rest.

"I'll see you tomorrow, di Angelo. Make sure you eat some of whatever food Kayla brings back from dinner."

Nico watched him go, deep in thought, wondering whether there was going to come a time when he would get used to this, or if the longer he stayed at camp, the more Will Solace was going to keep surprising him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise action-sequence chapter??
> 
> Had this dramatic idea for how Will finds out about Nico's death sense ability and had to get it written down into a proper head canon. What do you think?
> 
> I'll definitely have one more chapter on Day Two in the infirmary but I think that will get posted on 'Between You and Everyone Else'. 
> 
> Thanks everyone who has reached out with feedback so far, I am having so much fun writing this fic!


	12. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "They had been dating almost a month now and Nico had never brought it up. And now Nico's past had crept up on them both. Will felt stupid for not having thought about this. Felt ashamed for letting his resolve slip and sleeping in Nico's cabin (so much for giving him space)."
> 
> Will stays the night in Cabin Thirteen. Nico has a nightmare. Both Will & Nico POV.
> 
> ~Takes place 3-4 months post-BoO~

_Will_

"I still can't believe Lou Ellen told you that" Will shook his head at his boyfriend in disbelief. 

"Why?" Nico folded his arms, indignant. "We _are_ friends."

Will's head whipped around at that.

"Nico di Angelo, did you seriously just openly admit to having a friend?" He asked. He sounded stunned, though he was grinning.

Nico rolled his eyes and attempted to shrug away, but Will's arm was wrapped firmly around his shoulders. They were wedged in against one another on the floor of Cabin Thirteen, both leaning against the side of Nico's bunk.

The floor around them was littered with Mythomagic cards, junk food and extra blankets. When Nico failed to duck out of Will's grasp he let out a muttered "hmph" and leant back against the pile of pillows between them and his bedpost.

"You're impossible" he grumbled.

"What! I am not!" Will laughed, "I'm just proud of you. Such a social butterfly." He pressed his nose against Nico's head and nuzzled teasingly, earning another eye roll from Nico.

"Gross" he muttered.

Will wasn't phased. He could see the way Nico's lips were twitching ever so slightly, giving away his true feelings. Will kept his nose in Nico's hair and brought his hand up to cup Nico's cheek. Nico adjusted slightly so that their eyes met, their foreheads pressed together. Will smiled.

Nico tilted his chin so that they could kiss and Will hummed with pleasure when their lips touched.

The mess of blankets, the flickering light in the cabin and the frantic beating of Will's heart all seemed to melt away as Nico's fingers threaded through Will's hair.

"Nico" Will whispered against Nico's lips. Nico made a soft whimpering sound in the back of his throat that sent shivers down Will's spine.

It was a soft kiss. Comforting and teasing at the same time. Will held Nico close, marvelling for the millionth time at how good it felt to be wrapped up in him. And yeah, maybe also feeling a little smug about how dating someone with a whole cabin to themselves was the _best_.

"You should stay the night." Nico whispered. Will felt his stomach jolt.

"Really?" He asked, breathless. Nico nodded shyly. "What about… my siblings will notice…" Will said nervously.

"So" Nico shrugged. "It's not like we're doing anything. Just sleeping."

 _And making out._ Will felt his cheeks warm. They were still wrapped up in each other's arms.

"Yeah, Austin's really gonna believe that." Will muttered.

"So what?" Nico said easily. His arms tightened around Will's neck. "I like having you here."

Will gazed down at his boyfriend, marvelling at how comfortable he looked, how open and relaxed.

Will was aware that they hadn't really been friends for that long; just a couple of months. And they'd been dating for even less time. Nico had been through so much, and Will knew there was still a lot Nico hadn't opened up to him about. He always tried to give Nico space; he didn't want to become a crutch for Nico… and yet here he was, telling Will he didn't care what the other campers thought of him, being open about what he wanted… maybe Will didn't need to be quite so cautious _all_ the time…

"You don't have to stay" Nico said softly, worry creeping into his dark eyes. "If you don't want to…"

Will shook his head then, letting himself smile and snuggle down into Nico's arms some more.

"I want to stay" He whispered.

They kissed again, eventually moving from the floor to Nico's bunk. Nico pulled them both under the covers and curled into Will. Their legs tangled together. Nico settled down with his head on Will's chest, both of them smiling.

Nico's eyes had fluttered shut and his breathing had slowed. Will felt himself begin to drift into sleep too, his nose full of the scent of Nico and his chest full of a bubbly kind of happiness that made him giddy. 

—

Will dreamed.

He was standing up on half blood hill, looking down at the camp, bathed in sunlight. There was a gentle breeze washing in from the sea. He could hear shouts of excitement drifting up from the volleyball courts. The sweet scent of the strawberry fields filled Will's nostrils and made him feel calm. He began to walk down the hill and noticed he was barefoot.

He wasn't sure exactly when the dream began to change.

As he approached the bottom of the hill, nearing the forest, he noticed the grass was no longer cool and smooth beneath his feet, but hot and prickly.

The shouts from the volleyball field seemed louder.

Will looked up and noticed that the sky was darkening. The sun had smoldered down into a deep red that stained the horizon.

Will frowned. He looked at his feet and yelped to see the ground was no longer grassy but jagged. He was walking on some kind of riverbed. Except instead of stones or sand his feet were falling onto broken, black glass.

With a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach Will started to realise that the shouts he was hearing weren't from the volleyball court. In fact, it was a single voice. Someone was screaming. Crying. Someone Will knew.

Nico _._

—

Will woke up with a lurch.

For a second the dread that had formed in the pit of his stomach remained as Will blinked into the darkness, his brain struggling to locate his surroundings.

Then his senses caught up with him and Will registered the cool moonlight streaming in through high windows, the extinguished torches bracketed against the wall and, eventually, the weight of a familiar form curled up next to him. A form that was twisting and jerking against Will's arms in panic.

Will sat up and pulled back. Nico was still asleep, his face contorted in some kind of pain. As Will's focus shifted to him he had to fight not to reel back at the waves of darkness and fear that were rolling off him.

Will felt his chest tighten in panic. He hadn't witnessed Nico having a nightmare this bad since those first few days in the infirmary. As he fought against the dark aura that seemed to be emanating from Nico he realised that what Will had seen and heard in his own dream must have been a glimpse into Nico's nightmare.

"Nico" Will coaxed, nudging his boyfriend's shoulder as gently as possible. "Nico, you're dreaming."

Nico strained against the hand on his shoulder and Will let go instantly. Nico's face scrunched up and he twisted, moving so his face was lit by the silvery light from outside. Will realised with a painful jolt that there were tears on his cheeks.

" _Nico_ " Will whispered desperately, attempting to swallow his own fear. "Please, wake up."

And then all of a sudden he did. Glassy, dark eyes snapped open and stared at Will for a few confused seconds. Then Nico sucked in a breath and pulled away, curling up in the corner of the bunk and burying his face in his hands.

"No," Nico moaned, his shoulders shuddering. He seemed to be talking to himself, not Will. Will hesitantly touched his fingers to Nico's knee but Nico wrenched himself away, curling in on himself even tighter.

"No, no, no." he mumbled, a bit quieter now, trying hopelessly to keep the tremble out of his voice.

Will stayed where he was, perched on the edge of Nico's bed, his breathing shallow but his heart racing. It took every drop of self-restraint not to reach out for Nico again, but he managed it. He knew Nico needed space.

Nico's shoulders were shaking unevenly. Like he was crying but attempting to hold it back.

"Nico?" Will said. He kept his voice as quiet as he possibly could. "Do you need me to go?" He asked, knowing that his presence was adding to Nico's panic but praying to all the gods that Nico wouldn't say yes. Will knew there was no way he'd be able to walk away from him like this.

Nico jerked his head oddly and Will couldn't be sure if it was a nod or a shake of the head.

"Um," Will began to hesitantly disentangle himself from the twisted blankets. Then Nico's arm shot out suddenly to grab his wrist. Will looked up.

Nico was staring at him, wide eyed. Terrified. Tears still on his cheeks.

"Please stay." He whispered.

Relief flooded into Will with such force that for a second he thought he might cry as well. Instead he finally let himself reach out and pulled Nico to him. Nico curled into his chest. His fingers clutched at Will's collar. Will heard him let out a single sob.

"I'm sorry" Nico said quietly. His voice was muffled from Will's shirt.

"Nico, baby, you have nothing to be sorry for." murmured Will. He wound his arms around Nico's back as tightly as he could, one hand reaching up to stroke his hair.

They stayed like that for several minutes, Nico taking long, shaky breaths until eventually his heartbeat slowed and the tension in his shoulders eased off.

Even then Will's chest ached. What on earth had happened to Nico to make him feel like this? To give him nightmares this terrifying?

Nico still hadn't properly talked to Will about his past, other than to talk about Octavian's death and the almost-loss of Leo.

Will knew bits and pieces of the story from Annabeth and Percy. He knew some parts too from Gleeson Hedge. And he knew that Nico would have to talk about it with him eventually, but he didn't want to push it. It was important to Will that Nico had space to share these things on his own terms. That he had time to look after himself without relying on Will to fix things.

Will _hoped_ he'd made it clear to Nico that he was there to listen whenever Nico was ready. He always made an effort to remind Nico that he wasn't going anywhere; that he would still be here, no matter what Nico had to say.

But they had been dating almost a month now and Nico had never brought it up. And now Nico's past had crept up on them both and put Nico in a position out of his control. Will felt stupid for not having thought about this. Felt ashamed for letting his resolve slip and sleeping in Nico's cabin (so much for giving him space).

Mostly, he just felt worried. And scared at how frightened Nico had been in his dream. How desperately sad he had been when he woke up.

How often did this happen?

What did Nico do when he was sleeping alone?

What if Nico never opened up to him? What would Will do then?

What if he never opened up to _anyone…_?

—

_Nico_

Nico took a deep breath with his forehead against Will's chest and then drew back a little, peering up to meet Will's worried gaze.

"I'm ok now." He said quietly. His voice was finally steady.

"Are you sure?" Will frowned.

"Mmm." Nico nodded and released Will's t-shirt from his grasp, moving his hands instead to rest around Will's waist, his fingertips grazing the small of Will's back.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" asked Will. His voice was still soft, careful.

"Not really…" Nico said. He closed his eyes to avoid the way Will's eyes were searching his face. His stomach was still uneasy; he could feel leftover queasiness from the dream about Tartarus.

He knew that it wasn't fair of him to keep avoiding telling Will about this stuff; this wasn't what Will had signed up for when Nico asked him to stay the night… But he just couldn't face thinking about the dream again.

Will sighed."You do talk to _someone_ about this stuff… right?" He prompted gently.

Nico opened his eyes to see Will chewing his lip nervously.

"Of course." Nico said. "I've been talking to that doctor in New Rome over iris message."

Will blinked in surprise.

"You have?" He said.

"Yeah, every week."

At the end of Nico's three day stay in the infirmary, Will had spoken to Nico about the doctor in New Rome (it seemed like years ago now, back when he and Will had barely spent any time together and Nico was still uncertain about whether or not he'd made the right decision to stay at camp). Will had told him that the healers from Camp Jupiter had recommended the doctor for campers who had been on difficult quests. 'It might help,' Will had told him.

"How has that been?" Will asked him now.

"It's good I guess…" Nico shrugged, his voice still quiet. "I don't want to leave camp anymore."

"But you're still having nightmares…" said Will.

"Yeah"

"How often?"

"Will" Nico pulled away slightly, frowning.

"Ok, I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it." Will said hurriedly, tightening his grip around Nico and attempting (poorly) to cover the worry in his eyes. They stared at each other in silence for a moment.

"I'm just scared, Nico." Will whispered eventually.

Nico flinched. Of course he was scared…

"I'm sorry." Nico hung his head as he spoke, but Will was already shaking his head.

"No, not like that." Will brought one hand up to cup Nico's cheek. "I'm scared _for_ you, Death Boy. I'm scared because you're hurting. And I'm scared that you think that you deserve it. That's all I'm scared of."

His voice was so gentle. Nico's chest ached. He closed his eyes again.

"You wouldn't say that if you knew all the worst things I've done." He said.

Will tightened his hold on Nico and pushed their foreheads together.

"There's nothing you could tell me that would scare me more than the thought that you might never tell me those things" he said.

"Why?" Nico frowned.

"Because I worry that you're hurting yourself by not telling anybody."

Will sounded almost as pained as Nico felt. Nico scrambled for something he could say to comfort him.

"Reyna knows." he said quietly.

"That's good." said Will, sounding equal parts relieved and concerned.

Nico opened his eyes and studied Will's expression carefully. Soon, he knew, he was going to have to share his past with Will. As much as he hated the idea of reliving it… and as much as he worried what Will would think of him afterwards… he knew that he couldn't hide this part of himself forever. He didn't want to.

"I'll tell you one day…" he assured.

"I'd like that." Will smiled.

And Nico thought of Ahklys and of Cupid. He thought of Bryce Lawrence and the looks of horror on Coach Hedge and Reyna's faces when they recounted what Nico had done to him…

He thought of those things as Will smiled.

 _No you won't_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, and with moooore angsty comfort stuff. Tried to do fluff at the start but you be judge of whether I even remotely succeeded.
> 
> ALSO I have kind of been obsessed with Nico + Cecil + Lou Ellen friendship lately - see 'Between You and Everyone Else' for more of this.


	13. First kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Maybe tonight, Nico thought, something might happen.'
> 
> Will & Nico's first kiss. Nico POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place a two months ish post BOO (just after chapter 9)~

_Nico_

Will wasn't at dinner that night… and Nico missed him.

Which was silly, Nico told himself, because they didn't even sit with each other at dinner.

Nico was sat at the Zeus table. It was the first meal he'd eaten with Jason in just over a month.

Chiron had decided that Jason, Nico and Percy were allowed to share tables when more than one of them were at camp, since it seemed silly to have the three of them sit separately and on their own. But after summer ended, Percy was back at his mom's place and Jason and Piper had gone searching for Leo. The two of them had finally given up on their search and returned to camp that morning.

Despite his contentment at having Jason back at camp again Nico ate distractedly, his eyes on the Apollo table, missing Will.

Will himself wasn't at dinner today; Nico knew he had infirmary duty and would be eating there. The two of them had planned for Nico to stop by after dinner so that they could walk to the campfire together.

Jason, to Nico's relief, had not teased him about this.

Since Nico and Will had spent a whole (totally innocent!) afternoon together on the beach a few days ago, lots of campers were speculating whether Nico and Will were a couple now. But neither of them had yet worked up the courage to make a move. Nico kept alternating between insistently telling himself and his friends that it didn't make _sense_ for someone like Will to be interested in him, and focusing on the increasing evidence that this assumption was incorrect. Jason and Annabeth liked to consistently point out said bits of evidence whenever the topic came up and after that (yeah, ok maybe innocent but definitely full of open flirting) afternoon on the beach, Nico had finally come to grudgingly believe his friends were right (not that he would be telling _them_ that).

And so now, here Nico was, trying not to make it obvious that he was rushing his dinner so that he could make it down to the infirmary sooner and see Will again.

Maybe tonight, Nico thought, something might happen.

At the past few campfires, Nico had been getting bolder. When the sun dipped below the horizon and the rest of the camp was occupied singing and toasting marshmallows, Nico didn't feel quite so on display. He'd had the courage to sit with his arm around Will, or with their hands intertwined. Sometimes, on the walk back to their cabins, Will and Nico would have a moment or two alone. Maybe tonight…

Nico forced himself to stop that train of thought.

He was being silly again.

Nico's own self-doubt always stopped him from letting himself get too carried away with thoughts on what might actually happen if he and Will-

"Nico" Jason waved his hand in front of Nico's face, drawing his attention back to the Zeus table.

Nico looked up to realise that Piper was there, waiting impatiently at the head of the table.

"I'm gonna join Piper and head down to the amphitheatre," Jason said. "I'll see you and Will down there?"

"Oh," Nico said, trying not to blush at the knowing smirk Piper was giving him over Jason's shoulder. "Uh, yeah, see you there."

Jason grinned and snapped his massive book of myths shut, tucking it under his arm. He took Piper's hand and they left the dining pavilion together.

Nico noticed that lots of other campers were heading down to the campfire too. That meant he could finally go and meet Will!

He hurriedly pushed away the remainder of his dinner and headed down to the infirmary.

—

It had been a slow patient day. Will had already sent his other siblings and the satyrs on infirmary duty down to the campfire ahead of him. When Nico pushed open the infirmary door to meet him there was only one other person there; a young daughter of Athena, who was sitting on one of the beds with her arm in a sling. From the looks of things, Will had just finished healing her and they were just wrapping up a final check up. The rest of the infirmary was packed up neatly, ready to be left for the night.

Both Will and his patient turned to look as Nico entered. Will's eyes lit up and he gave Nico that bright, nervous grin he had.

"Nico!" he exclaimed, momentarily distracted from inspecting his patient's recently healed shoulder.

Nico thought about his time on the _Argo II_ , marvelling at how just a few months ago he could enter a room without anyone noticing. That seemed impossible with Will around.

"Hey, Nico" the daughter of Athena sitting on the bed beside Will lifted her hand in greeting. Nico recognised her and felt the familiar jolt of surprise he always got when presented with evidence that another camper recognised and remembered him too. It was still something he was trying to wrap his head around.

"Hey. It's Jess, right?" Nico said. Jess nodded. Will gave Nico that annoying smug smile he always gave whenever someone other than Jason said something nice to Nico. Nico tried and failed to resist rolling his eyes at that.

"We're just finishing up." said Will, without dropping his proud smile.

"How's the cabin redecoration going?" Jess asked Nico. Will had returned his attention to her shoulder but she continued to smile up at Nico as he joined them by her bed.

"It's pretty much done." Nico said.

Will removed his hands from Jess's shoulder and reached for a wrapped parcel of ambrosia from the bedside table.

"Ok, so it's healing up alright. I think you're good to go." He said. He passed her the ambrosia. "Have some of this if it gets sore later, but no more than one square."

Jess took the parcel and grinned brightly. "Great. Thanks, Will!" She hopped down from the bed and walked towards the door.

Will turned to Nico and grinned his bright grin again. Nico smiled back.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Yep!" Will hurried to put away his notes and pack up his desk.

As he did, Nico noticed that Jess had paused on her way out. She was standing near the door, half turned back. She looked around the room, and seemed nervous all of a sudden, then stepped back towards Nico, seemingly bolstered by the rare privacy that the near-empty infirmary had momentarily offered.

"Hey… Nico," She said hesitantly, "I hope this isn't too weird for you but I just… I've been meaning to say. I really appreciate you doing the burial rites for camp earlier this year. I think you did a really good job."

"Oh" Nico stood in place, taken aback. Will paused where he was at his desk, watching them both. Nico attempted a small smile in Jess's direction. She was standing unsurely between him and the door. "Um, it was no problem." Nico said awkwardly.

Jess fiddled with the hem of her shirt and to Nico's surprise took a shaky breath, her bottom lip suddenly trembling with emotion.

"It's just… my friend… she d-died in the fight against Gaia and I- it just meant a lot to me that she got to have a proper funeral."

"Oh" Nico's voice softened with understanding. There was a short pause. Nico thought sadly about Bianca. "What was her name?" He asked gently.

"Erika." Jess said. She failed to hide the tears that had sprung to her eyes and reached a hand up to wipe them away.

"I remember her." Nico said. "What was she like?"

Jess looked surprised, but pleased. Will stood quietly behind Nico, watching with wide eyes.

"She… she was funny." Jess said. "She could be kind of clueless sometimes. She would always get lost during capture the flag." She let out a tearful laugh. "We used to make fun of her for being so bad at directions… and um- I dunno, I guess that's part of why I'm glad you were there for the burial rites. She didn't have to worry about getting lost on the way to the Underworld." Jess glanced up at Nico with a sheepish smile. Nico smiled back.

"Well, she won't have to worry about that in Elysium" He said.

Jess's eyes went big. "She- She… Elysium?"

Nico nodded.

"How do you know?"

"I checked, after the war. You know, with my dad." Nico avoided saying 'Hades'. "He told me everyone who died in the battle got granted Elysium."

 _Well, except Octavian_. Nico figured he didn't need to mention that to Jess, who probably didn't even know who Octavian was.

Jess smiled at him again, even wider this time, and less shy.

"Thanks, Nico."

She made a small movement, as if she was about to walk forward and hug him, but then seemed to think better of it. Instead, she simply gave him a grateful wave, nodded, and turned to leave.

Nico watched her go thoughtfully. He thought for another moment about the battle, and about how he was glad that Chiron had asked him to do the burial rites. Then his thoughts wandered back to the campfire and Will. He looked back, ready to ask whether Will was ready yet.

He turned, however, to find Will staring at him with such intensity that the question died in Nico's throat.

His blue eyes were bright, not with nervousness but with something else that Nico didn't recognise.

Nico shifted awkwardly at being the focus of such rapt attention. Will's mouth was slightly open as if in shock and his hands were clasped together tightly, as if he was restraining himself from doing something.

Nico was about to ask what he was looking at when Will blurted out.

"You're incredible."

Nico blinked.

"What?"

"You." Will breathed, taking a few steps forward so that they were standing together. He smiled, incredulous, and the intense look in his eyes only grew more piercing as they met Nico's. Nico felt his heartbeat quicken at the sight. "You're incredible." Will repeated. "You know that right?"

Nico looked away, a blush creeping up from the back of his neck. "I don't…" he trailed off, mumbling. Will reached out to grab his hand and held it tightly.

"Sometimes I can't believe you're real." He said. His voice was filled with so much awe, Nico couldn't help but look back up to meet his gaze.

Their eyes locked. Nico's breath felt shallow and for a second, Nico started to forget his doubts from earlier. They gazed at each other until Will carefully stepped closer, moving his hand away from Nico's and running his fingers gently up his forearm before resting hesitantly above his elbow.

"Will" Nico said softly. His voice trembled. For just a moment Nico swore he saw Will's gaze flicker down to Nico's lips.

Will smiled nervously.

"Yeah?" His eyes shimmered as he spoke.

"I think you should kiss me." said Nico.

Will looked surprised only for a split second before he moved in closer. His other hand reached up to cup Nico's cheek and Nico's heart raced at the knowledge that this was really happening and everything felt so, so new. Will tilted his head forward slightly and his eyes met Nico's in a silent question. Nico responded with a just barely perceptible nod.

And then Will's lips were pressed against his and Nico felt weightless.

Every worry Nico had ever had about Will not liking him fell away and in its place came a kind of euphoria Nico had never felt before.

Will Solace was kissing him.

Nico leaned into him and wrapped his arms around Will's waist. And Will's hand on his arm was so warm and the other hand on his cheek so gentle and now they were standing there in each other's arms and when Will broke the kiss and Nico opened his eyes to look at him he saw those gorgeous lips frozen in a blissful sort of smile. His eyes were still closed. A few strands of his golden hair had fallen over them.

Nico reached up and pushed the stray curls off of his forehead. Will opened his eyes as he did so. They were deep blue and as bright as ever, but no longer nervous. He beamed at Nico.

"Is this… ok?" Nico asked breathlessly. His hand trailed down Will's cheek as he spoke and Will leaned into his touch. He looked so happy.

"More than ok." he murmured, his voice warm. His eyes shimmered. "I've been wanting to kiss you for weeks."

Nico smiled.

"Me too." He admitted.

Will grinned widely and leant forward to press their lips together once more in a second, chaste kiss.

"We should probably go to the campfire though." He said, his voice hushed.

"Ok." Nico stepped back reluctantly. Will hesitated, as if regretting his suggestion already.

"But we could hang out later… just the two of us?" He said.

"Yeah." Nico met his hopeful gaze. He pictured, as he had earlier that day, the walk back to Cabin Thirteen, when the two of them often paused to say goodnight in the low light of the dying campfire. This time he didn't stop himself from following that train of thought. He smiled at Will. "I'll make sure that we do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a little sweet since things got kind of dark last chapter 👀
> 
> ... More darkness coming though, I'm writing a chapter for 'Between Me & Everyone Else' where Will and Percy talk about Tartarus - it's a follow up to last chapter. 
> 
> If there are any other Solangelo moments / Will and everyone else moments / Nico and everyone else moments you want to see I am definitely open to prompts :)


	14. Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hey Nico-" Will said thoughtfully, a smirk creeping onto his face,"did you just come on to me because of my Mythomagic strategising?"
> 
> Nico paused in the middle of picking up a bronze shoulder guard and then turned slowly to stare at Will, a blush creeping up the back of his neck.
> 
> "No." he lied.
> 
> -
> 
> Will & Nico's second, third, fourth and fifth kiss. Both Will & Nico POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~takes place immediately after chapter 13 and in the week between chapter 13 and chapter 6~
> 
> Heads up: lots of kissing + making out in this chapter (in case you hadn't figured that out already)...

**Second**

_Will_

Will spent the entire singalong gazing at Nico, heart racing.

After their kiss in the infirmary he had thought of almost nothing else but their walk back to the Hades cabin, when they would be alone again. And after what felt like the longest final song of all time, they were.

Jason and Piper had slipped away to Cabin One. Will had left Austin and Kayla to pack up their instruments and had promised to meet them back at the Apollo cabin. The other campers were ahead of them, all drifting off to their own cabins.

Nico and Will took their time. Nico's hand was warm in Will's, despite the cool air. As they walked back to Cabin Thirteen their shoulders occasionally bumped together.

Will desperately wanted to kiss Nico again. He had spent most of the evening thinking about it. But now it was just the two of them, he was suddenly nervous again. The silence between them wasn't uneasy but Will searched for something to say to calm his nerves. He thought of earlier that day, when he'd watched Nico's conversation with Jess from the Athena cabin in awe.

"Did you really check with your dad whether the campers who died in the war went to Elysium?" Will asked. Nico frowned.

"Yeah," he said, as if it were obvious.

"Why?" said Will.

Nico shrugged. He seemed a little surprised by Will's line of questioning, but considered his answer. "Sometimes people ask me." he said. "They did last time."

"Really?" Will raised his eyebrows. "Have they this time?"

"Huh?"

"Have people asked you this time?"

"Not really…" Nico spoke slowly, his eyes watching Will's face carefully. "Don't you ever wonder?"

"What do you mean?" said Will.

"What happens to people down there…" Nico hesitated, "Your patients? Your brothers?"

Will was silent. He wondered how to explain it. Nico's eyes glinted in the dim light. Kind and curious.

"I know where my brothers are." Will said eventually, his voice soft.

Nico smiled at him. He looked so beautiful with the early moonlight on his face.

"You're right." Nico said.

Will frowned down at his own feet. He was unsure if Nico meant Will was right in guessing that his brothers were in Elysium or right in not wanting to know the answer. He figured probably both.

"I had a really hard time letting my sister go" Nico said quietly. Will was surprised that he spoke so calmly; he'd never really spoken to Will about Bianca before. "I went too far trying to figure out what happened to her. I guess I asked Hades about the battle just in case anyone else at camp has a hard time. Sometimes it helps people to have answers."

They reached the Hades cabin. Nico paused to lean against one of the front columns. Will stopped in front of him and shook his head.

"You know just because you're a son of Hades doesn't mean you have to have the answers." he told him.

Nico shrugged. "It's no big deal, really."

Will moved forward so that they were standing together more closely. He gazed again into Nico's dark eyes, though Nico was staring at the floor, embarrassed.

"You're a really kind person, Nico di Angelo."

Nico's eyes flickered up to meet Will's at that. He gave Will a tentative smile, as if struggling to believe that Will was telling the truth.

Will reached up to cup Nico's cheek and Nico's hand followed his, holding Will's fingers against his face.

"Hey Will?" Nico's voice was small, though it sounded to Will like music. His eyes were wide and earnest. How was it that he could make Will feel this way with one look? Like he and Nico were the only people in the world.

"Yeah" Will breathed.

"I really like you." Nico said. His voice was soft again. And if it wasn't for the fact that he could feel Nico's breath, light on his cheek, Will might have thought he had imagined it.

He smiled. Everything felt almost too good to be true.

"I really like you too." He whispered.

And Nico closed his eyes and pushed up on his toes to kiss him.

Will leaned into the kiss, fireworks burning in his chest and pulled Nico close. It was a sweet kiss, their arms wrapped around one another, both holding onto the other tentatively as if frightened that they might be ripped apart at any second. Will kept his arms around Nico even as they broke apart and Nico gazed up at him again. Eyes dark and beautiful.

Then he stepped back, looking shy all of a sudden.

"Goodnight, Will." he whispered.

And Will watched him walk back up the steps to the Hades cabin like a dream, somehow knowing that this moment would become one of the most important moments in his life.

-

**Third**

_Nico_

Nico woke up from a blissfully dreamless sleep and lay in his bed for a moment, staring at the sun that filtered in through his cabin's high windows.

He had kissed Will! He and Will had kissed!

The skeletal butterflies that had taken up permanent residence in his stomach these days were doing some kind of celebratory dance.

His chest felt so full from the events the previous night that he wondered for a moment if he would ever feel normal again. Perhaps he would carry this happiness with him forever.

He had just finished replaying Will's voice whispering ' _I really like you too'_ again in his mind when a knock on his cabin door jolted him from his reverie.

It was a familiar rhythm, though it had been a month since he'd heard it. Nico had almost forgotten the excitement of Jason's return to camp yesterday morning.

"Nico, you missed breakfast!" Jason called through the door. "I brought you leftovers - see you at combat practice?"

Nico smiled as he swung his feet out of bed. He had missed his friend.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon, thanks Jase."

He quickly threw on his combat gear and grabbed his sword, thinking that if he hurried he could probably drop by the infirmary before heading to the arena.

Jason had left a paper-wrapped bagel and an apple on his doorstep. Nico snatched it up with another smile and jogged across the green.

The infirmary was quiet. Will was stacking supplies on one of the beds when Nico walked in. Kayla was sorting through papers at the desk at the back. Will's face split into a grin as soon as he saw Nico. The sunlight coming in through the windows behind him seemed to catch on his golden hair as if he was glowing.

"Hey, you." He said.

"Hey" Nico grinned. He moved into the room and hesitated by the bed, suddenly nervous again.

"You missed breakfast." Will said. Not disapprovingly, or even really in surprise. He just seemed disappointed to have missed him. Regardless, Nico held up the bagel and apple.

"Jason had me covered. I'm about to meet him for combat training." he explained.

"Ah," Will eyed the breakfast with an expression Nico couldn't quite place. Nico felt his heart flip at the way it was making his lips twitch at the corners.

"I was thinking we could hang out at the beach later though?" he continued.

Will's gorgeous blue eyes lit up. Nico's heart flipped again. He tried to ignore the way that Kayla was rolling her eyes at them at the back of the room.

"Sure! 4o'clock?" he said.

"Yeah, I'll see you then."

-

The day slipped by in a sunshiney haze. Nico sparred with Jason and Cecil. He ate lunch at the Zeus table and then caught up with Piper in the afternoon. At ten minutes to Four he excused himself and headed to the beach, aiming for his and Will's favourite spot.

Will was already there, lying in the grass with one arm thrown over his face. Nico felt his lips curve into a grin. And finally, it was just the two of them again.

"Hey."

Nico sat down in the grass next to Will. Will moved his arm away from his face and peered up at Nico sleepily.

"Hi" he said, his voice warm and relaxed.

"How long have you been here?" Nico asked.

"About an hour." Will sat up lazily, turning his head towards Nico. His hair was mussed up from his nap. He beamed at Nico once he was sitting with his face level to Nico's and Nico's thoughts swam with how good he looked in the late afternoon sun.

After a moment's hesitation, Will leaned in and kissed him.

It was a short kiss, and Nico was surprised for a moment, but he kissed back, skeletal butterflies churning in his stomach and his aching chest more full than ever.

-

**Fourth & Fifth**

_Will_

"Aaaand… I win." Nico moved his figurine onto Will's Athena card, smirking.

"What?" Will looked up from his own hand in shock. He'd been staring down at his cards in consternation; he was sure he had figured out a way to win this time. "But wait- how did you get past Athena's defensive moves?"

"Yeah, Artemis and Hecate both have ways around that - it's tricky but you can pull it off." Nico set his own cards and figures aside, grinning at Will rather smugly. Will was aghast.

"No, I accounted for that." He said insistently. Nico chuckled. "I'm serious! I've been really thinking about it and I worked out more than one way to get past that. Look-" He spread out his cards in front of him, laying them upside down so that Nico could see.

Nico glanced down at them, an amused smile playing around his lips. That just made Will frown more intently. He really thought he'd had Nico this time. He launched into an explanation of his planned strategy.

"Explain to me what I did wrong." he told Nico, detailing exactly what his plan had been. It took a little while to explain: he'd been thinking about it for a few days now, mulling over possibilities while on infirmary duty and sifting through Nico's collection to read up on the stats in his downtime. He was so focused on figuring out exactly what he'd missed that it took him a few minutes to realise that Nico was not really paying attention.

When he looked up, midway through a tangent on the reading he'd been doing on the Poseidon attack moves, he noticed that Nico was watching Will with a lopsided grin that Will didn't recognise.

"What?" Will pulled back defensively, assuming Nico was making fun of him. Nico just grinned wider. "I was being serious." He complained.

"I know." Nico said. He reached out and picked up the cards that were spread out between them on Nico's bunk, leaning over to drop them in a neat pile on the floor. Then he scooted forward so that they were sitting, legs crossed, with their knees touching.

"Have I ever told you that I think you're really attractive?" He asked.

Will's eyes grew impossibly large. Nico's grin had turned mischievous in a way that had somehow turned Will's stomach into jelly.

"Um-" He squirmed under Nico's gaze. "No?" He said uncertainly.

"Well, I do." Nico reached up and wound his arms around Will's neck. Will's heart pounded at the sudden change of pace.

"You do?" He breathed, bringing his own hands to rest ever so lightly at Nico's waist. Nico's eyes softened slightly and he nodded. Will could hardly believe how gorgeous he looked, staring up at him through his lashes. Almost against his will, his eyes flickered down to Nico's lips. His breath hitched as he watched Nico nervously bite his bottom lip. When Will brought his eyes back to meet Nico's the smile in his eyes was gone, replaced with an earnest longing.

When Nico kissed him it was different to their other kisses. More urgent somehow. Nico's lips were warm. Will ran his fingers up Nico's back, eliciting a satisfied sound from Nico that reverberated against Will's jaw. Nico's hands were everywhere; at his shoulders, his waist, tangled in his hair. Will leaned forward to deepen the kiss and Nico let him, somehow both relaxing into Will's embrace and pressing himself tighter against Will's chest.

Will's brain was in overdrive. He felt as though he was having a thousand delirious thoughts at once and yet at the same time all he could think was _Oh my Gods I am making out with Nico di Angelo._

Nico was murmuring Will's name against his lips, his voice husky and Will was on the verge of letting out a groan in response when there was a sudden rapping on the cabin door.

"Nico! Capture the flag starts in five minutes!"

Nico and Will both jumped apart at the sound of Jason's voice. Nico stared in shock at the door, his hair beautifully rumpled and his lips swollen and red.

"Um- Ok, meet you there" Nico called, wincing when his voice broke slightly.

He turned back to Will. They were both a little short on breath. Will laughed at the disgruntled look on Nico's face.

"I guess we'll have to continue this later" he said sheepishly.

"I guess" Nico grumbled, though he smirked at Will. He jumped up and hurriedly fixed his hair and straightened his shirt before scrambling around his cabin for his sword and armour. Will watched him, amused.

"Hey Nico-" He said thoughtfully, his own smirk creeping onto his face,"did you just come on to me because of my Mythomagic strategising?"

Nico paused in the middle of picking up a bronze shoulder guard and then turned slowly to stare at Will, a blush creeping up the back of his neck.

"No." he lied. Will grinned.

"You so did!" Will stood up and laughed, delighted. He stepped forward to wrap Nico in a hug and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You are such a dork!"

"I am not!" Nico pushed him off, though he was grinning too. "You need to go get ready."

Will let Nico go, still smiling.

"Ok, Death Boy, but I'm saving that Mythomagic move for later." he teased. Nico rolled his eyes.

"See you in the woods, Solace."

-

_Nico_

Nico was on patrol duty, searching the perimeter of the woods for scouts from the other team.

He'd been walking for about ten minutes when he spotted a familiar mop of blond hair through the trees.

Will was wearing armour, and had a bow slung over his shoulder, though he didn't seem particularly ready for combat. He was lounging in the low branches of a tree, presumably keeping watch, though Nico doubted he could see much from there.

"Hey Sunshine." Nico said dryly, coming into the clearing Will's tree was in. Will grinned, though he didn't look surprised to see him.

"Nico, fancy seeing you here" he said cheerfully. He swung his feet off his branch and jumped easily to the ground.

"Taking watch duty very seriously there, I see." said Nico, quirking a single eyebrow at Will's neglected bow and quiver. Will laughed.

"Yeah, somehow I don't think Austin and Kayla actually expected me to do much other than come looking for you" he said.

"Looking for me?" Nico repeated quizzically.

"Looking for you." Will repeated back, stepping forward so that the two of them were only a few feet apart. Will was smiling down at him, all confidence.

"And what did Kayla and Austin expect that you'd do once you found me?" Nico asked, smirking. Will smirked right back.

"Well" he mused, stepping forward again and putting his arms around Nico, his hands resting against the small of his back. "I think they're probably hoping I'll keep you distracted." He bent down and pressed a teasing kiss against Nico's jaw.

"Oh, really?" Nico said. "And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"

Will grinned and pushed Nico backwards gently until they were pressed up against another tree.

"I can think of one way" Will suggested, his lips hovering over Nico's teasingly. "We were sort of in the middle of something earlier…"

Nico tried and failed to stop himself from grinning back at Will. He let out a calculated sigh.

"Well, if you insist."

Will leaned down to kiss him and Nico smiled against his lips.

He could help his team win capture the flag next time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've gone FULL FLUFF people!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter - I really struggle writing super fluffy scenes so hopefully this worked (seriously it took me like three times longer than my normal pace to write these scenes). 
> 
> Are there any other fluffy moments you wanna see? The first part of this chapter was inspired by a comment from the lovely hugsfornico - I'm working on another moment from the post-first-kiss-campfire for a future chapter too!
> 
> ALSO - I have finished reading ToN and may be shifting the timelines from previous chapters ever so slightly to make room for some ideas I have for chapters taking place between THO and ToN. I might not post these chapters for a while but if I do I'll include spoiler warnings - hardly anything apart from timing will change, I promise.  
> If you've also read ToN and want to discuss and hear my musings on future chapters feel free! Message me on tumblr (same username) :)


	15. Campfire (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Nico's first night after his three-day infirmary visit, a strange holographic scroll flutters onto the amphitheatre stage at the campfire. 
> 
> Leo's note. Nico POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place 3 days post-BOO~

**August**

_Nico_

Nico's first dinner after his three day stay in the infirmary was chaotic and comforting all at once. He arrived at the pavilion to find Percy and Jason both sitting at the Zeus table. Jason waved Nico over enthusiastically when he arrived and Percy eagerly told him about how Chiron was letting the three of them sit together for the rest of the summer.

All throughout the meal different campers waved at them and some came to say hello; Annabeth, Piper, Clarisse and Connor. For a while Grover sat with them too, chatting away with Percy after asking Nico how his recovery was going.

Nico sat silent through it all, overwhelmed but relieved to finally be out of the infirmary. Every now and then Jason would catch his eye and smile reassuringly.

About halfway through the meal Nico noticed Will arrive and join his siblings. Nico frowned; he hadn't really noticed Will leave the infirmary for meals while he'd been there. Things must be calming down after the battle at last.

As Nico finished picking at his meal, Austin stood up at the Apollo table and announced a singalong, which was met with raucous applause. The camp seemed in a good mood today. Nico let himself get swept up in it.

As Jason and Percy bantered away beside him, Nico dropped back and found himself walking beside Piper.

"Hey, Nico" she smiled at him. "How are things?"

Nico glanced around them at the stream of campers walking down to the amphitheatre in high spirits. He shrugged.

"Can't complain."

"Nico!" a camper called out from behind them. Nico and Piper turned to see Lou Ellen waving at them from where she walked with Cecil and Will. "Come sit with us!" Lou Ellen said. Nico glanced at Piper in silent invitation.

"Guys" Nico said to grab Jason and Percy's attention. When they saw Lou Ellen they both followed Nico and Piper and found seats all together; Percy, Jason, Nico and Piper in one row with Will, Lou Ellen and Cecil right behind them.

Austin took the stage and the singalong began. The campfire glowed brightly with the mood of the camp; relaxed at last after so many tense days and back to normal for what seemed like the first time in months.

Nico sat between Jason and Piper, trying to pretend he wasn't keenly aware of Will Solace's presence over his shoulder.

It wasn't until a few songs in that things started to go south.

The Hermes campers saw it first.

"What's that?" Nico heard one of them mutter.

"Do you see that?" He heard a moment later from somewhere amongst a group of Aphrodite kids.

Nico looked around, trying to figure out what they were talking about. And then Percy saw it.

"Um, guys…" Percy said from Jason's other side. He pointed upwards to the shimmering air above the campfire. They all followed his gaze to see a loosely rolled piece of parchment, fluttering down towards the stage, occasionally picked up by the wind but somehow avoiding the campfire flames, as if it knew where it was going.

Austin stopped playing. The campfire dimmed as the whole camp saw the parchment drift to a stop in the middle of the stage.

"What the-" Austin muttered. He started to lean down towards the parchment when Annabeth suddenly jumped up from where she sat in the front row.

"Wait!" She cried. "Don't touch it!"

Annabeth cast a worried glance up in Percy's direction before joining Austin on the stage and crouching down to get a closer look at the parchment. Clarisse had jumped up to join her as well, weapon in hand.

"Oh my Gods."

Annabeth was staring down at the parchment in what looked like horrified recognition. Slowly, and with trembling fingers, she picked up the scroll.

"What is it, Annabeth?" one of the other campers asked.

Annabeth straightened up. She looked up at Percy again, then her eyes swept over Jason, Piper and Nico too. At the distressed look on her face, Percy stood up and started to make his way down to join her.

But before he could finish and before Annabeth could open her mouth to answer, the scroll unravelled of its own accord and a holographic image appeared above it. A holographic image of none other than Leo Valdez.

The entire camp gasped.

Blue flames shot up from the campfire in a sharp, hot blast as everyone realised whose face was looking out at them.

Annabeth's jaw dropped and Percy froze mid-step on the stairs halfway to the stage.

Nico felt his entire body go cold.

Piper had stiffened beside him and Jason had shot to his feet.

“Hey, guys!” Holographic Leo grinned and spread his arms for a hug. “Sorry to leave you like that. Bad news: I died. Good news: I got better!"

Nico felt his hands curl slowly into fists and then start to shake. He could hear Piper's breathing grow uneven beside him.

"I had to go rescue Calypso. We’re both fine now. We’re taking Festus to—” The image guttered with static. “Back as soon as—” Static. “Cook tacos when—” More static. “¡Vaya con queso! Love ya!” The hologram zapped out of sight, leaving the entire camp staring at the Annabeth's wide-eyed face.

There was a moment of complete silence. And then all Hades broke loose.

Everyone at camp erupted into rapid speech. All around Nico, campers had stood up to yell and gesticulate wildly at the campfire. Percy had run the rest of the way to the stage and had joined the crowd of people now swarming around Annabeth with questions. The campfire flickered uncertainly.

On Nico's left, Jason was staring dumbly at the stage, uncomprehending. On his right, Piper was shaking.

Nico turned to her, but her eyes were on Jason. Nico felt awkward all of a sudden that he was sitting between them.

Then, as one, they both turned to look at Nico.

"He died." Jason said, almost accusingly. "You said he died."

"I know-" Nico panicked, his eyes flicking between his two friends. "Jason-"

"How can this be happening?" Piper said, voice trembling. "I thought you _felt_ -"

"I _did_." Nico interrupted, firmly. His fists were still clenched. Inexplicably, he was filled with anger. It was as if all the guilt and all the pain of the past six days had been compounded together and slammed into him all at once.

He felt a pressure on his back and jumped, twisting around to see Will, who had reached out, a hand on Nico's shoulder. He met Nico's eyes with a worried expression. Nico felt his anger waver for a split second and then Clarisse's voice rang out over the cacophony of shouts down at the stage.

"Alright, everybody zip it!" She shouted. The camp went silent. "Head counsellors. Emergency meeting at the Big House NOW."

"Ugh, seriously?" Nico heard Cecil grumble behind them as Lou Ellen and Will both got to their feet.

"Maybe try and calm everyone down." Will said to Cecil, though it was clear that even Will, ever the diplomat, thought this might be a tall order.

Jason grimaced at Nico and Piper. "Come on." The three of them joined Will and Lou Ellen and scrambled across camp to the Big House.

By the time they arrived, Nico was speechless with rage. He kept thinking over the words from Leo's message. His exact words.

Leo said he had died.

Nico had _felt_ that he died.

But somehow he was alive anyway?

He, Jason and Piper all stumbled into the games room. Will scrambled to pull out seats for the three of them, but only Jason accepted the offer.

Percy, Annabeth and Clarisse were the last to arrive, Chiron right behind them. When they finally did, Nico rushed towards Annabeth.

"Give me that." He said sharply, snatching the scroll out of Annabeth's hands. Annabeth and the other counsellors all looked shocked. Nico hadn't been at many counsellor meetings before but at the ones he _had_ attended he had rarely made such a brazen, attention-grabbing move.

Annabeth attempted to protest as Nico stormed back to the ping pong table and unrolled the scroll again. Leo's grinning holographic face once more sprang up above the scroll and Nico stood back, arms crossed, face scowling, listening intently as the message played again.

When the message cut off and Leo's face zapped away, everyone - even Chiron - watched for Nico's response.

Nico remained motionless, still scowling at the parchment. There was a short silence before he looked up and met Jason's eyes.

"When the explosion happened, I felt Leo's death… But there was something different about it. Something I didn't understand." He said, forcing himself to keep his voice steady. He scowled at the scroll one last time. "How could he have survived?"

"He must have figured out a way to take the Physician's Cure." Annabeth spoke up with a kind of hesitant certainty that indicated that she felt this was the only explanation, despite its' apparent lack of sense.

"Maybe he figured out a way to get Festus to give him the cure?" Percy suggested.

"Is that possible?" asked Jason.

Everyone looked at Nyssa and Jake, who had both insisted on coming to represent their siblings (all of whom had been considerably distressed to see Leo's face at the campfire). Nyssa and Jake exchanged an uncertain glance.

"With Leo? And Festus? _Anything_ 's possible." Nyssa said reluctantly.

"It doesn't matter." said Piper. She spoke firmly from where she stood at Nico's left side. "What matters is he's _alive_."

As those words sunk in, the atmosphere among the head counsellors began to change. Nico watched as around the table glances were exchanged and slowly, gradually, shock and uncertainty gave way to relief and joy. Percy let out a breathless kind of laugh.

Nico locked eyes with Will, who smiled at him, and Nico thought about how only two nights ago, Will had been convincing him that Leo's death wasn't his fault. Now he wasn't dead at all. Nico felt a returning smile tug at his own lips.

"So what now?" Jason asked, addressing Chiron. "Do we send out a search party for him?"

"Will he even be able to travel, if he's been back to Ogygia?" said Percy.

"We should make contact with the Romans before anything else." Annabeth suggested. "They might have heard from him too - and if they haven't, they'll want to know that he survived."

Nico's heart leapt as he imagined how happy Hazel would be when she found out. He wondered if she already knew; perhaps she'd felt something he hadn't.

"We should wait about a week, at least." Chiron said. "Give ourselves time to get in touch with Camp Jupiter. And give Leo and Calypso time to travel back here from wherever they are, if they have indeed managed to leave Ogygia. We can reassess whether a search party is necessary then."

They all nodded, Jason somewhat reluctantly.

"Well in that case, I guess - meeting adjourned?" Percy said with an open palmed shrug.

"What should we do with the scroll?" asked Lou Ellen, gesturing to where it lay forgotten on the table.

"I'll take it." Nico snatched it up with a scowl. He hadn't forgotten the crushing weight Leo's death had placed him and the camp under over the past few days. And he could do with something to look at whenever he wanted to get mad.


	16. Campfire (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've been thinking that maybe you should sit with us, at the Apollo table."
> 
> "What?" Nico's frown deepened. "That's against the rules."
> 
> "It wouldn't be against the rules if you had a good reason not to sit on your own. Like, say for example, it was deemed bad for your health…" Will raised one eyebrow. 
> 
> "And… Is it bad for my health?" Nico asked.
> 
> "Well, that's for your doctor to determine, isn't it?" 
> 
> Nico and Will hold hands at the campfire. Nico & Will POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place in the months between BOO and THO~

**September**

_Nico_

Nico would never admit it, but two weeks into the Fall Semester he was already missing Jason and Piper.

Worse than that, Nico missed almost everything about summer at camp.

He missed the busy-ness that allowed him to jump from activity to activity without letting another cabin down.

He missed helping Annabeth teach the younger campers about Greek mythology.

He missed studying Latin (and goofing off) with Piper.

He missed the evenings in the Hecate cabin hanging out with Cecil and Lou Ellen.

Slowly though, he was starting to adjust to life as a year-rounder. He still got to lead combat classes. And they still played capture the flag and went to campfires with the rules and songs adjusted slightly for their smaller cohort. To everyone's surprise (including Nico's), Nico kind of missed the crowds.

Things might have been alright, Nico mused, if it wasn't for the fact that Jason and Piper had left to go search for Leo…

The whole camp was worried about them. They hadn't heard a word from Leo since the scroll had arrived and Camp Jupiter had heard even less.

Will had been helping him to take his mind off the worry. The two of them had been spending more and more time together since the end of summer.

Initially, Nico had been apprehensive about life at camp with a smaller cohort. He suspected that without the presence of Jason and Percy, people might slip back to their former wary behaviour towards Nico as a son of Hades. Though Nico hadn't said anything about this, Will seemed determined to make sure this was not the case.

He encouraged Nico to join the Ares campers in combat training; as it turned out Sherman and Ellis were very keen to learn all about the techniques Nico had learnt from training in the Underworld.

Whenever Nico had an afternoon free, Will insisted Nico join him in the infirmary, helping him to rearrange the storage cupboard and teach younger year-rounders first aid.

At times, Nico suspected that Will was behind other campers' behaviour too; Cecil asking him to join the Hermes cabin for crafts or Drew suggesting Nico partner with Aphrodite for capture the flag. Yet he soon learned that his suspicion was wrong. Will wasn't forcing the other campers to do anything - he was just forcing Nico to listen to them. "Kayla wants to know if you'll help her with archery training on Friday" Will would say. Or "Did you get back to Malcolm about you joining his siblings on their Roman strategy project?" Nico was finally starting to feel like his presence at camp was normal.

And the more normal things got, the more difficult it became for Nico to ignore his growing feelings for Will.

Obviously those feelings had been around for a while.

Ever since those skeletal butterflies had been resurrected in Nico's stomach after the Battle against Gaia, Nico had been conscious of the way Will's smile always widened when Nico was around. And how sometimes Will's gaze lingered on his eyes or his hair or his lips.

Nico had attempted to ignore this; he knew from years of pining after Percy that romance would cause him nothing but grief, and that with everything that had happened to him in the past year, spending time worrying about a guy was the last thing he needed.

But things were different now. Sure, he spent a lot of his time with Will but it wasn't the only relationship he was paying attention to. Nico had friends at camp. He caught up regularly with Reyna and Hazel over Iris message.

And more than that, Nico's feelings for Will were different from his feelings for Percy in about a million different ways. Nico felt like he was friends with Will. And at the same time, there were things about Will he found annoying; infuriating even. He didn't feel in constant awe of Will, and yet he was constantly learning new and amazing things about him.

Will was relaxed around everyone. He came across as carefree, but Nico was beginning to see that in reality he was anything but. He cared deeply about a lot of things, and a lot of people. And he cared deeply for Nico too, whether Nico was in the right mindset to accept that care or not.

That night; sitting at the campfire two weeks after summer ended, Nico was tired from combat practice and nervous about spending time with Will and lonely from eating dinner on his own.

"What's up?" Will asked him, when the Apollo campers joined him at the campfire.

Nico chewed at the inside of his cheek, wondering how much to share.

"Not much" he shrugged. "Just missing summer, I guess."

"Worried about Jason and Piper again?" Will asked, his eyes softening with concern. Nico didn't answer. "Have you felt anything… from, you know…"

Nico knew that Will was talking about Leo, despite his hesitance to say his name out loud (Nico was prone to getting angry when asked outright about the Leo situation).

"Nothing" Nico muttered. He scowled at the ground. Hairline cracks started to appear in the stone beneath his feet.

Will bit his lip. He threw a nervous glance at his siblings, but they were now getting up to prepare their instruments for the singalong. He took advantage of the brief time alone with Nico to speak in a lowered voice.

"I've been thinking" he said. "About the seating arrangement at dinner."

Nico met Will's eyes and frowned.

"What do you mean?" he said.

"Well" Will grinned suddenly, looking conspiratorial. "I've been thinking that maybe you should sit with us, at the Apollo table."

"What?" Nico's frown deepened. "That's against the rules."

"It wouldn't be against the rules if you had a good reason not to sit on your own. Like, say for example, it was deemed bad for your health…" Will raised one eyebrow. He was still talking in a hushed voice, which Nico found somewhat ridiculous given that no one was likely to be listening in on them.

"And… Is it bad for my health?" Nico asked.

"Well, that's for your doctor to determine, isn't it?" Will said smugly.

Nico's eyes widened as he realised what Will was getting at.

"Does this doctor think I can't handle sitting by myself?" He asked skeptically. Will rolled his eyes.

"Of course not. He's just noticed that you've been stressed out lately, and thought maybe you'd appreciate some company now that there are less campers around." As Will spoke, his siblings started to call out for the camp to get ready for the singalong to begin. Will's smirk dropped away into an easy smile and he turned to watch Austin.

Nico watched Will's face. The days were getting shorter now, and the sun had already set, despite it still being early evening. In the flickering orange light from the fire, Nico could see Will's smile waver, perhaps wondering if Nico would say no to his suggestion.

As Austin began to play and the camp began to sing, Nico took advantage of the low light to shift a little closer to Will while they sang.

Feeling a sudden burst of courage, and emboldened by his musings before, Nico cast a quick glance around the amphitheatre to make sure no one was watching thembefore reaching out to take Will's hand in his own.

Will jerked around to look at him in shock.

Nico smiled. He gave Will's hand a quick squeeze.

"Sitting at the Apollo table would be nice" he murmured, as the rest of camp launched into the song's chorus.

Nico expected Will to look smug but instead he blushed, looking down at their intertwined fingers.

"Great." Will said, giving Nico's hand a return squeeze and turning back to the campfire with another smile. "I'll see what I can do."

And Nico felt his spirits lift as they sat like that for the rest of the night, hands still surreptitiously clasped together on the bench between them, thinking that no one could see.

**October**

_Will_

Will spent the entire walk from the infirmary to the campfire trying desperately not to turn his head towards Nico. His whole body felt charged with electricity. His lips were still warm from the feeling of kissing Nico for the first time. His ears still ringing with Nico's words _"I think you should kiss me"_. He could feel his cheeks aching from how much he was grinning.

He wondered if Nico was feeling this too.

He was too nervous to check. He felt so jittery he thought one look at Nico might send him over the edge.

Plus it was taking a lot of his energy to keep himself from glowing right now…

They arrived at the campfire, both beaming, and found themselves some seats behind the assembled campers.

There weren't many of them around; just the regular year-round campers, plus Jason and Piper, who had arrived that morning after a whole month of travelling around the country searching for Leo.

Will knew Nico had been looking forward to spending time with Jason and Piper again. At this point that was the only thing keeping him here at the campfire and not back in the infirmary still where he and Nico could have hung out alone.

Jason lifted his hand in greeting when they arrived and Will caught Piper shooting him a quizzical look. Her eyes flicked between Nico's face and Will's curiously.

Gods, were they that obvious?

Nico led Will to the seats behind their two friends. They were towards the back of the small group of campers, with a good view of the campfire, in front of which Kayla and Austin had set up with their instruments.

They sat down. Jason leaned back to say something to Nico and Will finally allowed himself to look. He gazed at Nico's face in profile. His jaw sharp against the flickering light of the campfire. His lips were tilted up ever so slightly as he spoke to Jason, and when he pulled back to sit up in his seat, his eyes flickered to Will for a split second.

Will's stomach fluttered with nerves. His heart ached, though he couldn't remember feeling this happy before.

Nico was looking at his own lap now, a blush creeping up his cheeks. Will couldn't stop his grin. He didn't care that Piper was watching him. Now that he was allowing himself to look he couldn't pull himself away. Instead he reached out for Nico's hand, resting on his knee, and intertwined their fingers.

Nico blinked in surprise, still not looking at Will but instead focusing on their joined hands.

Will watched as a proper smile crept over Nico's face. He ran his thumb slowly over Will's hand. His skin was cold but the touch left a trail of fire on Will's skin.

Kayla counted them in for the first song and Nico turned his attention to her. And still without looking at Will he shifted so that they were sitting closer together, leaning into Will's side.

Without saying a word, and no longer really caring about whether Piper or Jason were staring at them, Will squeezed Nico's hand and smiled too. He spent the rest of the singalong, heart beating at a sprint in his chest, re-remembering their first kiss in a daze while singing with the rest of the campers and counting down the seconds until he and Nico would be alone again on the steps of the Hades cabin, saying goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I planned for the past two chapters to be a single compilation of campfire themed drabbles stretching from August through to December, but they ended up super long, so here are the first three months. 
> 
> Part 3 featuring November & December drabbles will be coming soon!


	17. Campfire (3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "November was a month of nightmares, ghosts and very little else." 
> 
> Nico struggles to decide whether he's ready to share his past with Will. In December, Will and Nico return from winter break, anxious to find out why Iris messages are no longer working. Both Nico & Will POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place in the months between BOO and THO~
> 
> CW/TW: light references to depression in this chapter.

**November**

_Nico_

November had been a month of nightmares, ghosts and very little else.

After the inexorable joy that had swept over Nico after he and Will first kissed, they had spent a dizzying couple of weeks in each other's company. The feeling was so new and so sweet that Nico had to remind himself each morning that this was _real_. That this was not a dream.

As it turned out, however, convincing himself that this was not a dream was an increasingly simple task… Because as Fall slipped by and the nights grew longer, Nico's _actual_ dreams were becoming increasingly dark.

Things with Will were so, so perfect. And yet the more Nico dreamed, the more he began to worry about how much about his own past Will didn't know about.

He and Will had been dating about a week when Jason and Piper decided to leave camp again to go back to California and start school.

Things got worse without Jason around. It was harder for Nico without someone to vent to. Whenever Nico found himself panicking about what Will would say the next time Nico got overwhelmed by something from his past, it was Jason's voice he imagined to calm him down.

The problem was, every time something happened that might hint at what Nico had been through, every time something threatened to send Nico spiralling back into his old habits, Will remained unfazed.

To Nico's never-ending disbelief, Will was not scared of him. Not scared of anything.

No matter what warning signs appeared (signs that hinted at who Nico really was), Will didn't flinch.

For some reason this made Nico feel even more afraid of what was to come.

One night Nico convinced Will to sleep in the Hades cabin and Will witnessed one of his darker nightmares. Even then he didn't leave.

Nico visited Hazel and Reyna so that he could talk to them about it. Will wasn't happy about the shadow travel. They had their first fight. And even then he came right back to him, telling Nico he was right and that his powers mattered.

Every week, Nico spoke over Iris message to a doctor in New Rome. The doctor specialised in counselling demigods who struggled to adjust after returning from quests.

Nico go into much detail when he talked to them. Nico had mentioned that he had nightmares but didn't feel strong enough to go into detail about their contents. Mostly they focused on Nico's old impulse to leave camp, to be on his own. That feeling at least was getting weaker. The longer Nico stayed at Camp Half Blood the more he started to acknowledge that as bad as things might get, they would be 1000 times worse if he was on his own.

That, and he was becoming all to aware that if he left camp he would have to leave Will.

And despite all the nightmares, despite the guilt that went with them, things with Will were _amazing_. Nico spent countless hours with him. In the infirmary, on the beach, at the lake, in his cabin. Whenever they were together, just the two of them, Nico felt braver. Sometimes, he even thought maybe things would be alright once he told Will about his past.

And then one morning Nico was woken by the cold blue light of a cloudless November day, after a rare night of dreamless sleep.

He sat up, his thoughts still fuzzy and his chest warm at the vague memory of staying up late last night, wrapped up in Will's arms at their spot by the beach.

He checked the clock that was buried on his bedside table under a stack of books and games and Will's infirmary notes.

He saw the date.

November 17th.

Bianca's birthday.

And all at once, everything came crashing down.

-

_Will_

Will left the dining pavilion on November 22nd, feet dragging from lack of sleep.

He hadn't seen Nico in almost a week.

Austin had insisted he eat in the dining pavilion with the others today, rather than on the steps to the Hades cabin as he had for the last several meals.

Will had struggled to eat, though he had forced something down under Kayla's watchful gaze.

He had spent most of the past five days on edge, constantly worried.

Nico hadn't told anyone why he had locked himself up in his cabin but Hazel had iris messaged on the third day to tell them she'd had a dream about Nico's sister Bianca. She told Will she suspected had been sent to her by Hades. It hadn't been a huge leap from there to finding out about Bianca's birthday.

Will got it. He had lost siblings too, obviously. A lot of them had.

As soon as he, Austin and Kayla had realised the date, they had exchanged dark, knowing looks. Will still struggled on Lee's birthday and every Christmas Austin insisted he go home, even though he hated it there, because he couldn't stand the memories of Christmases before the war.

It was particularly hard for Kayla. Her depression sometimes triggered spirals at certain times like the anniversary of Michael's death or Canadian Thanksgiving. Or sometimes the spirals would come for no reason at all. Will and Austin were pretty familiar with what to do to best take care of her. But it never got any easier. Neither of them ever felt any less helpless.

And this; being locked out of the Hades cabin with no idea what Nico was going through; not knowing how best to take care of him because everything between them was still so new and this had never happened before; feeling trapped between concerned doctor and needy boyfriend and worried friend… this was more helpless than Will had ever felt.

After the first day, once Will had made sure Nico was safe and awake and not at risk of running away (those fears, at least, had been soothed over the past few days), he had alternated between infirmary duty and sitting outside the Hades cabin.

Will, Austin, Kayla and Cecil took turns bringing Nico food, though he rarely ate it. Every morning and evening Will spoke to Hazel over iris message and Jason checked in each evening. Reyna said she had been sending Nico messages still but that he only replied occasionally and only to say that he was "ok".

And then, as Will stumbled across the cabin green he saw the door of Cabin Thirteen creep open, and Nico stepped out gingerly onto the porch.

Will stopped in his tracks. A heavy emotion Will couldn't quite place fell over his shoulders with startling force. He drew in a breath and blinked away grateful tears.

"Nico!"

Will rushed across the green. Nico's eyes shifted towards him, wide and vulnerable.

"Nico" Will said again when he reached the porch. His voice breathless.

Nico looked at him uncertainly and Will searched his body language, desperate for a sign that it was ok for him to approach.

Then Nico hesitantly raised his arms - just a fraction but Will took the signal with a wave of crushing relief, sweeping Nico up into his arms. Nico turned his face into Will's shoulder and Will buried his nose in Nico's hair. To his surprise it was wet. Will felt his heart swell with something like pride as he realised that this must mean that Nico had been able to get up _and_ take a shower. He rubbed his hand in circles against Nico's back.

"I missed you." Will whispered.

Nico pulled back so that he could meet Will's eyes. He smiled hesitantly, though Will thought he looked worried and guilty still.

"How are you feeling?" Will asked gently.

"I…" Nico's dark eyes searched Will's face. Will smiled and brought a hand to Nico's cheek. "Better." Nico whispered.

"That's great." Will smoothed his thumb over Nico's cheekbone, drinking in the sight of him.

Nico was still watching Will carefully. A small crease appeared between his eyebrows as Will gazed back at him.

"Are you feeling up to coming to the campfire tonight?" Will asked hopefully. "We can sit in the back?"

"I…" Nico's frown deepened in confusion. He took a breath. "Don't you want to talk about…" He trailed off, gesturing at the cabin door behind them. Will gave him a sideways smile.

"Do you?" Will asked.

Nico's haze dropped to the floor. He was quiet for a little while before shaking his head."Not really." He mumbled. "Not today."

"Then, let's not talk about it today." Will said easily. He stepped back to give Nico some space. Nico glanced up at him uncertainly. Will smiled to reassure him.

"Maybe tomorrow?" Nico suggests. Will's grin widened.

"Whenever you're ready."

They walked to the campfire holding hands. Will found them a seat not too far from the small group of congregated year round campers, but separate enough that Nico wouldn't feel crowded. He insisted Nico eat some s'mores.

Nico was quiet. He didn't sing with the others, but he did lean against Will throughout the singalong, occasionally squeezing Will's hand or turned to press his lips against Will's shoulder to let him know he was doing ok.

Will felt calm for the first time in days. He knew that this was only beginning. A baby step. He knew that there were likely many more weeks like this to come.

But he also knew that making it through this was a big deal. Being there for Nico felt good (even when being there was just sitting on the other side of the cabin door). And he knew that the more that he and Nico got used to each other, the more Will found out about Nico's past and the more they made it through weeks like this, the better they were going to get at looking after one another. His experience as a healer and as a brother and head counsellor had taught him that much.

"Maybe we could go on a date later this week." Will suggested, leaning to talk softly in Nico's ear. Nico's lips twitched up.

"Yeah. I'd like that." He said.

Will smiled. Content for now to just focus on enjoying the warmth from the campfire and Nico's fingers intertwined with his.

-

**December**

_Will_

Will had mixed feelings about returning to camp after winter vacation this year.

He was usually sad to leave his mom and her band; the winter break was the longest amount of time he got to spend with her these days. Will loved the trips away with her and the band every Christmas, each time in a different location. And this year it had been even more exciting as he'd managed to convince Nico to join them.

He should have been doubly reluctant to leave; 10 days spent at a ski resort in Vermont with Nico, his mom and the bandmates (who were basically like Will's aunts and uncles at this point) shouldn't have been enough.

Instead, he and Nico had been anxious to get back. Shortly after they'd arrived at Okemo Mountain, they noticed that Iris messages weren't working properly. Nico had complained about Chiron not letting him bring his phone outside of camp, but after Will used his mom's phone to try and call the Big House and couldn't get through, they had since deduced that even if Chiron had allowed it it may not have helped.

Will tried to call Austin but that call was blocked too.

Something was wrong.

Nico and Will pulled up on the mortal side of Half Blood Hill in the cab paid for by Will's mom and hurried up towards Camp together. It was dark, and Nico held his sword in one hand to be extra safe.

When they crossed the border into camp and looked down over the valley, everything seemed quiet. Will could see the campfire burning low down in the amphitheatre. He and Nico exchanged glances and quickly moved to drop their bags off at Cabin Thirteen before joining the rest of the campers at the fire.

For a moment, as he hurried across the green between the cabins and took in the deserted camp, Will felt his nerves ease slightly. He was used to camp being quiet in winter and the tidy cabins and silent courtyard and pavilion were oddly reassuring; tranquil even. But when he and Nico stepped into the amphitheatre to join the campfire, all of the anxieties he'd felt in Vermont came rushing back.

No one was singing. Austin and Kayla were huddled together in the front row rather than sitting onstage. Chiron stood before the camp, his face grave. At his side, looking uncharacteristically anxious, was Connor Stoll.

The camp turned as Nico and Will entered the amphitheatre. Will expected some kind of greeting, but instead they received a mixture of wary faces and relieved cries.

"Will! Thank Gods!" Kayla gasped. Will frowned with concern and joined his siblings. They both hugged him. He turned to find Chiron exchanging a grim look with Nico.

"Will, Nico." Chiron said. "It is good to know you are both safe."

"What's going on?" Will asked. "We tried to message from Vermont but-"

"All communication is down." Austin said. "It's the same everywhere. We haven't heard from anyone since you guys left."

"What do you mean?" asked Nico.

"Let me bring you up to speed. We were just about to begin." Chiron said.

The camp watched Nico and Will nervously. Nico kept his eyes trained on Chiron, who began to explain.

"You knew before you left that we were no longer receiving messages from satyrs out in the field, and that new demigods were not being reported." He began.

Nico and Will nodded.

"Well, since then things have worsened. As you've no doubt realised, communication between camp and demigods has completely broken down. Nothing is working; Iris message, cellphones, email. We assumed a few weeks ago that we hadn't heard from Camp Jupiter because things were busy leading up to break… but it seems that communication with them may have been the first thing to go… Worse still, we haven't heard from Rachel Dare. As you know, she was meant to arrive at camp for winter vacation, but she hasn't shown up."

"What?" Will said, aghast. Nico slipped his hand into Will's as Chiron spoke. He knew that Will had been concerned about the lack of prophecies and that he was worried about Apollo. He had been looking forward to seeing Rachel.

"Indeed." Chiron nodded gravely. "Percy and Annabeth drove in once the phones started to fail and he hasn't heard from her either. They've told us that they are equally cut off in New York."

"And there's been no words from any of the Gods either." Kayla said. "It's not just Dad and Mr D anymore."

"What does this mean?" Nico asked in a steely voice.

"Well" said Chiron. "I'm afraid this is where we come to the reason I've gathered the camp together today." He turned to face the whole camp again, then gestured at Connor.

"Um, well, some of you were there this morning, but after looking all day and not finding anything it's official." Connor shifted on his feet and swallowed. Will felt his stomach drop as if he knew what was coming. Nico's grip on his hand tightened painfully.

"Cecil has gone missing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really tricky to write and I'm quite nervous to share it! I hope you like it!
> 
> More angst coming soon as I think I'm just about ready to dig into some chapters from between THO and TON...


	18. Voices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nico wished for what must have been the thousandth time that he could speak to Jason, or Hazel. It had been almost five months now with no communication between demigods. To Nico, it felt even longer.
> 
> He wondered if maybe he should try going into New York to talk to Percy or Annabeth about this. But no, that would only stress them out.
> 
> Speaking of stress… 
> 
> Nico glanced at Will from the corner of his eye."
> 
> In the months preceding Lester & Meg's return to camp, Nico's nightmares begin to worsen. Nico POV.
> 
> ** SPOILERS for Tower of Nero in this chapter **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place a few months before the events of Tower of Nero~
> 
> ** SPOILERS for Tower of Nero in this chapter **

_Nico_

Nico woke with a start.

His sword arm lashed out instinctively, though some part of him was conscious enough to recognise that he was in his empty cabin and so he didn't actually summon his sword to his hand. Instead he was left bolt upright with his bedsheets pooled around his waist, his legs tangled up at the end of the bed and his chest heaving.

He sat still for a few minutes, catching his breath, until he shivered from the sweat cooling on the back of his neck and forced himself to get up.

The voices, through all of this, continued to tumble through his thoughts as if he hadn't woken up at all.

He was getting better at blocking them out now. It had been weeks since he'd heard the first one.

Except that they were getting stronger, Nico thought to himself as he peeled off his pyjama bottoms and stepped into the shower.

Stronger, and more specific.

_Something bad is going to happen._

Nico closed his eyes and let the sting of the slightly-too-hot water rush over him, trying to quash the feeling of dread that had begun to form in the pit of his stomach.

Today there was a new voice. A deep, foreboding whisper undulating beneath the other voices.

This one was different to the familiar, apologetic voice of the titan who called out to him in his dreams. The voice was hollow. Cruel.

Nico shivered as he pulled on his cabin shirt and hesitated for a second on his way out the door.

He took a deep breath, then grabbed his sword from where it hung on the wall and attached it to his belt.

At breakfast Nico picked at his food, stomach churning.

Austin and Kayla were chatting animatedly about the comments on Austin's latest video. Nico could barely hear them over the voices so he just sat in silence, pushing food around his plate.

He wished for what must have been the thousandth time that he could speak to Jason, or Hazel. It had been almost five months now with no communication between demigods. To Nico, it felt even longer.

He wondered if maybe he should try going into New York to talk to Percy or Annabeth about this. But no, that would only stress them out.

Speaking of stress…

Nico glanced at Will from the corner of his eye. He had finished eating ages ago but remained at the table, fingers tapping against his cup, eyes trained on Nico.

He hadn't said anything, but Nico knew his boyfriend had been watching him closely these past few days. Sometimes Nico even suspected Will knew about the voices (he had already guessed about the nightmares getting worse). Not that that was a bad thing, really. Nico had already decided what he was going to do.

Nico pretended to be eating until Kayla and Austin finished up their breakfast and left the pavilion. Will told them he would wait until Nico was done before joining them for archery practice.

Nico sat with his shoulders tensed as they left and the instant they were out of earshot Will turned sharply towards him.

"What's wrong?"

Nico sighed. The voices were echoing still. He concentrated and managed to silence most of them, but the one that called his name and the new, dull whisper both remained. He _had_ to tell Will.

"Ok. But you have to promise to take me seriously." Nico said.

"I always take you seriously." Will sounded offended.

"I know you do, I just… I've been hearing voices."

There was a silence in which Nico stared determinedly at the table and Will continued to stare at him.

"What kind of voices?" Will asked slowly.

"Bad voices." Nico huffed. But Will was impervious to his scowls and bad moods by now. Nico heard him draw in a careful breath.

"Voices from the Underworld?"

Nico winced.

" _Worse_?"

The whispering voice at the back of Nico's head seemed to stretch into a dull roar. He closed his eyes, his expression pained. Will took another breath.

"From… Tartarus?" His voice was gentle, as always, despite the horrifying subject matter.

Nico inclined his head. Yes.

He felt Will shift closer. Nico leaned into him. Will's reached out and put a reassuring hand on Nico's arm.

"Ok." He said unsteadily. "Ok, well it's ok. We're ok."

Nico felt warmth spread through his chest at that. Somehow, after all the awful things Nico had told Will about his past; after all the terrible things Will had gone through himself, Will was always so calm. So reassuring, even when they were both terrified. Will smiled nervously.

"What do the voices say?"

"I…" Nico used his finger to trace patterns on the back of Will's hand as he spoke. "Lots of things… But mostly… Mostly they say that I have to go back."

"Oh, Nico." Will pulled his hand back and instead curled his arms around Nico. It was a slightly uncomfortable position for a hug but Nico pressed his face into Will's shoulder all the same.

"I think they might be right, Will" he whispered. "I think that might be the only way to stop them."

"Hey." Will tightened his grip around Nico. "It's ok. You don't have to go back there" he said soothingly.

"But what if I _do_?" Nico cringed at the panic in his voice.

"We're not going to worry about that today. Ok?" Will pulled back and took Nico's hands in his. He looked Nico in the eye, steely and determined.

Nico chewed his lip.

"What do you mean?"

The new, whispery voice continued to churn in the back of his mind.

"This isn't a prophecy. This isn't a quest. This is just a voice." Will said. "Let's just take it one day at a time, ok?"

Nico stared into Will's eyes and let himself be reminded of all the things that were good about his life at camp. He counted through them slowly, one by one. Then he squeezed Will's hands back and attempted a smile.

"Ok. I'll try."

-

The voices didn't get any better. And they didn't stop telling him that he should go to Tartarus.

If anything, they were getting worse.

And then there was that feeling of dread.

Not being able to speak to Hazel and his friends on the West Coast became increasingly distressing to him, for reasons he couldn't quite explain.

Will told him that this was perfectly normal.

But Will couldn't hear the voices. Will couldn't feel the mounting panic that was pent up in Nico's chest. Worse with every passing night and constantly reminding him that something _bad_ must be about to happen.

And then, one day, it did.

Nico could barely remember the day now. It was as if it had happened underwater. All the sounds, colours and touches from that day were muted. The way he had screamed. The way Will had held him. The way he had felt in his gut that his instincts were right, even though they had no proof. No way to contact Apollo, or Meg, or Piper.

Hades refused to speak of it. Every time Nico tried to bring it up Nico would find himself unwillingly enveloped in shadow and returned to Cabin Thirteen.

Nico asked Hades about the voices too but this only made his father angry.

"I forbid you from returning to Tartarus." he told Nico darkly.

Still, the voices didn't let up.

Sometimes they spoke to him about Jason. Saying horrible things about how he died and how he would never make it to Elysium.

Other times they would simply act as reminders of all the things Nico hated about himself or the Gods or his own past. They would say he was a terrible friend to Jason. That he was a terrible brother to Bianca. A terrible son. A terrible boyfriend.

-

"I know you're not going to like this." Will said to him one evening when the voices were particularly bad. "But I think you should tell Mr D about this."

" _What_?" Nico scowled at his boyfriend.

Mr D had returned to camp shortly after Nico had felt Jason's death. He had refused to comment on his extended absence and further refused to say why he had returned, though Will and his siblings felt it had something to do with their father.

"This is Dionysus's Godly domain." Will pressed on. "He's helped with stuff like this before! When the Labyrinth-"

"Tartarus is nothing like the Labyrinth." Nico said darkly.

"I'm not saying it is. I'm saying that he has experience helping campers with their mental health." Will met Nico's glare with look of resolve that was difficult to counter.

Nico said nothing. He hated to admit it, but things had been difficult without the regular contact with his doctor in New Rome, even before the voices and Jason.

Maybe Mr D _would_ help. But the idea of talking to a God about his problems made Nico feel even more nauseous than he usually did these days.

-

The worse the voices became, the more Nico became convinced that the only way to make it stop would be to follow the call of the one voice he properly recognised; Bob.

Will was not so convinced.

"How do you know it's not a trick?" he argued.

This time they were talking about it on their spot by the beach.

"Why would it be a trick?" Nico asked exasperatedly. "What would the ancient Gods of Tartarus possibly have to gain from killing _one_ demigod?"

"We're not having this argument again, Nico." Will sighed.

Will insisted that Nico's death would be hugely valuable in the eyes of Tartarus. Something about Nico being more powerful than other demigods and more important to Hades than he realised. Nico thought that was ridiculous. Nonetheless he decided not to push back against Will this time; it would just make Will upset.

"I really think you should talk to Mr D." Will said for the millionth time.

Nico rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious. He would help you figure out what's real."

Nico tried to dismiss that point but the truth was he _knew_ that not all of what the voices told him was real.

So, one day he made his way up to the Big House to find Mr D.

-

For about a week, things seemed a little better.

Mr D, to Nico's immense surprise, was an extremely attentive listener. He began to check in with Nico most days and invited him to eat meals at the head table with him and Chiron.

In the afternoons he invited Will and Nico up to the big house to play pinochle.

The problem was, that even though his conversations with Mr D were helping, they weren't making Nico any less convinced that he was going to have to return to Tartarus.

He began to look into ways to get back there without Hades knowing.

"What are you doing?" Will asked one evening, when Nico was buried in his newest research.

Will stood in the doorway of Cabin Thirteen.

"Researching." Nico replied, without looking up.

Will shuffled into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Researching what?"

"Transport." Nico flipped over a page in his book. Will came to stand at his shoulder, peering down at the notes. Nico tensed, waiting for his reaction.

"Underground?" Will asked.

Nico turned slightly, his shoulder brushing up against Will's chest as he did so. He looked up at Will and met his eyes, waiting as Will recognised the look on Nico's face and realised his intention.

"No."

Will shook his head. From the way he set his jaw Nico couldn't tell if he was angry or scared. Maybe both.

"I thought Mr D said-"

"Mr D admitted that some of the voices are probably real." Nico said flatly.

" _Some_." Will repeated. "Not _all_ , Nico."

"Some is enough." Nico glowered. "I need to be ready."

Will opened his mouth and then closed it again. Nico watched carefully as Will seemed to grapple internally for a few moments. Finally he closed his eyes and let out a long breath through his nose. He dragged a hand through his hair.

"We." Will corrected.

"What?" Nico frowned.

" _We_ need to be ready." Will opened his eyes again and Nico saw that they were set. He looked stubborn. Almost as stubborn as Nico felt.

Nico blinked at him.

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I'm serious." Will folded his arms, indignant.

"No." Nico turned back to his research, scowling.

What a ridiculous suggestion. There was absolutely no need for anyone to get dragged into this mess but him. _He_ was the one hearing the voices.

"What do you mean, 'no'?" Will's voice came through gritted teeth.

Nico sighed and shoved his notes away. He stood and turned to face his boyfriend. Will's face was uncharacteristically stormy, set in a hard glare.

"This is my fight, Will. I'm the one who has to face this."

"You don't know that. There is no reason why you shouldn't go without help." Will insisted.

"I don't want you to help."

"What do you mean you don't _want_ me to help?" Will's voice crackled dangerously.

"I mean I want you to stay here. At camp. Where it's safe." Nico said. Will rolled his eyes derisively.

"Yeah, well I want that for you too but obviously that's not what you're intending to do. So I'm coming with you."

"No."

"Yes."

"No, Will I-"

"You can't go down there alone again, Nico. You can't." Will's voice shook then for the first time. Nico cut off in shock as he realised that Will's blue eyes were suddenly bright with tears. Nico had never seen Will cry before (at something that wasn't just a stupid movie, anyway).

"Will?" Nico was suddenly uncertain. Hesitant.

Will's gaze, though tearful, remained just as stubborn.

"You can't." He repeated.

"Um… right." Nico fumbled, unsure what to say. Panic coursed through him.

This was not how this was supposed to go.

The thought of Will being with him, helping him, in Tartarus was… amazing.

But at the same time Nico was gripped with terror at the thought of losing him. He had already lost so much. He couldn't imagine surviving that. The thought was worse that the idea of returning to Tartarus alone. Much worse.

He grabbed Will's arm and led them clumsily to sit on his bunk. Will did not break his gaze.

"What if…" Nico hesitated, trying desperately to think of a way he could reassure Will, without agreeing to the unthinkable.

"What if I asked someone else to come with me?" he suggested.

Will's resolute look shifted to one of bewilderment.

"Someone else?"

"I could ask Hazel."

Will glared.

"You wouldn't put Hazel through that."

"Then Reyna." Nico persisted.

"Reyna is busy with the legion. And besides, how are you planning to contact anyone at Camp Jupiter anyway?"

"I could talk to Annabeth."

It was difficult for Nico to keep the desperation out of his voice this time. Will raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously? You think she hasn't already got enough to worry about?"

"Percy would go. If I asked him. I know he would."

Nico saw some unfamiliar emotion flicker across Will's face. He pulled back, visibly repelled by Nico's words. Nico felt his insides curl up with guilt.

Will looked away, staring at the ground almost apprehensively.

"You really don't think I can do this, huh?" Will whispered.

"What?"

Nico hadn't expected that. He watched in horror as Will's expression darkened into proper anger. And this time it wasn't anger founded in concern for Nico.

"Do you honestly think so little of me?"

"No!" Nico scrambled to fix it. He reached out for Will but he pulled back. Another thing Nico had never seen him do before. "Will, that's not it at all. You don't know what it's like-"

"I've been through both wars you know." Will's blue eyes flashed dangerously. His voice rose as he spoke. "I've fought in battles. How can you tell me that-"

"Will, it's not the same." Nico interjected. The panic he had felt before at the thought of Will being trapped in Tartarus heightened to the point of physical pain at the sight of Will's anger.

"What, because I didn't have a prophecy?"

Nico watched desperately as Will stood up to glare at him.

"Because I've never been on a quest? Because let me tell you, Nico, I've been healing questing demigods for years now and you and I both know there is zero correlation between whether or not you're on a quest and whether or not you have the ability to look after yourself."

Nico's grip on his own argument was slipping. Instead, as the situation began to spiral away from his control he felt only fear.

"You know, _you_ never went on a quest and you've managed to do a pretty good job at putting yourself in danger without any kind of ability to look after yourself."

"I'm not doubting your ability to look after me, Will." Nico's voice was strained.

"No." Will spoke coldly. "Just my ability to look after myself."

Nico didn't trust himself to say anything. And that, more than anything Nico had said, caused Will's eyes to flash with real hurt. For a moment he was stunned into silence. Then-

"Unbelievable." he breathed. He turned to leave.

"Will, don't go!" Nico jumped up and lunged after him but Will was already opening the door to leave.

Will paused very briefly at the doorway. Silhouetted against the golden sunlight from outside just as he had been when he'd first come in.

He looked at Nico with a dark expression.

"Good luck convincing Percy to come with you." He said.

Then he turned his back again and left the cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a follow up chapter to this in part three of this series 'Between You and Everyone Else' (Chapter Four - Percy). And there will be one more follow up coming up on this fic too :)


	19. Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Kayla crossed her arms. "Will's not here." she said bluntly. "He wasn't feeling well."
> 
> Nico swallowed his mouthful of KitKat.
> 
> "Is he ok? I was going to come talk to him." he said.
> 
> "That depends. Are you planning on apologising?" Kayla raised an eyebrow, which made Nico wince.'
> 
> After Nico and Will fight, Nico heads to Cabin Seven to apologise. Both Nico & Will POV.
> 
> **Mild Spoilers for Tower of Nero in this chapter**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place immediately after the last chapter (chapter 18), a month or so before the events of Tower of Nero~
> 
> **Mild Spoilers for Tower of Nero in this chapter**

_Will_

Will didn't think he'd ever felt this angry.

After his fight with Nico about going to Tartarus, Will had stormed across the pavilion, crashed into Cabin Seven and thrown himself on his bunk.

The cabin was silent. His siblings must still be out doing afternoon activities. Will wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or upset that they weren't there.

He rolled over onto his back and stared at the neat wooden beams above him. He took deep breaths, trying and failing to calm his racing heartbeat. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

What was going to happen now?

Nico would probably be angry at him, he thought bitterly. He had been angry for weeks now, Will knew, ever since the horrible moment he'd felt Jason's death.

Will supposed he would be continuing on with his solo journey down to Tartarus. He might even head down to the Underworld right now, if he was really upset with Will. Will knew how reckless he got when he was mad.

Will's stomach boiled with anger at the thought. He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists again.

Why did Will do this to himself?

Why did he think that he could help? That he could somehow control every situation?

He turned on his side and curled up, feeling suddenly sick.

Every nightmare Nico had told Will about, every waking flashback. Every time Will had touched Nico's wrist to check how he was healing and instead been taken aback by the shock of dark anguish… Each time resurfaced in Will's memory, paralysing him with fear.

That's what Tartarus had done to Nico. And that's what it was going to do again.

There was nothing Will could do to stop it. He had tried to stop him. He had tried to help. And he had failed.

There had been plenty of times in the past couple of years that Will had felt useless; he was unable to fight; the lousiest singer, the worst shot of all his siblings… but this was the most helpless he had ever felt.

He tried desperately not to cry but his eyes burned all the same.

Nico made him so happy; was the best thing in Will's life.

The thought of losing him (to Tartarus, to this fight) was unbearable.

-

The afternoon seemed to slip away in a haze of repeated thoughts and reluctant tears.

At some point before sunset, Kayla appeared at his side.

"Will?" Her voice came urgent and surprised. "Will, are you alright? What happened?"

Will pulled himself upright, filled with relief at the sight of her worried face. Her gaze flickered over Will's disheveled appearance and tear stained cheeks.

"Gods, Will. Come here." She climbed onto the bed beside him and pulled him into a hug. Will rested his head on her shoulder.

They hadn't been sitting there long when another voice came from the doorway.

"Hey," Austin came into the room, frowning. "What happened? What's wrong?" He hurried to join them, his hand on Will's shoulder.

Will felt his spirits lift in their presence, his fear for Nico momentarily abated by his affection for his siblings.

He felt silly for a moment, getting so upset over a fight with his boyfriend.

But it wasn't just a fight, Will reminded himself. This was more than that.

"I'm just worried about Nico." Will mumbled against Kayla's shoulder. Kayla and Austin exchanged a worried glance.

"What are you worried about?" Kayla asked softly, at the same time as Austin said "What happened to Nico?"

Will took a deep, trembling breath.

"He… I think he's going to go back to Tartarus." said Will. "He says it's for a mission. He's been 'called'."

"What?" Kayla breathed. Austin's eyes widened in horror.

"And I tried to tell him that I'd go with him-"

" _What_?" Austin said.

"-so that he didn't have to do it alone this time." Will pressed on. "But he told me he didn't wantme." His voice cracked on his last words.

"What do you mean?" Kayla asked, perplexed.

"He said he wouldn't let me!" Will shrugged Kayla off and hugged his knees to his chest. He scowled. "He said that fighting in battles wasn't the same as being in Tartarus and that I didn't know what it was like and that I should stay here in the infirmary while he went down there with someone else like Reyna or Hazel or Percy."

Will shoved himself to his feet at that, his eyebrows knitted together. He was suddenly every bit as angry as he'd been when he'd stormed out of Cabin Thirteen.

"Nico _said_ that?" came Austin's stunned voice from Will's bunk.

"Yes." Will spat.

Will had never thought of himself as a jealous person before. He'd never once felt insecure about Nico's relationship with any of his friends; even Percy. But now he was livid.

How could Nico reject him like that? How could he not stand up for Will when Will asked him if he doubted Will's ability to look after himself?

Will worked _so_ hard to look after Nico. To look after everyone at camp. And it was _still_ not enough.

He paced backwards and forwards in the cabin, seething, his jaw set.

"How can-?" Will's voice broke off, whether from his hurt or his anger, Will wasn't sure. "How can he not want me?"

He sat down heavily on Kayla's bunk. And Kayla and Austin exchanged another worried glance before hurrying to his side once again.

-

Kayla and Austin stayed with him for the evening, Austin running to the dining pavilion to grab them all some food.

They sat on the floor of Cabin Seven together, eating burgers and teasing each other.

It had been a tough year already for all three of them. They were all worried about Apollo and struggling with the lack of communication with their summer friends. Will knew that Kayla and Austin had been worried about Nico lately too. They could all tell something big was coming.

The next morning Will joined them both at breakfast. Nico wasn't there.

Will tried to work in the infirmary but he was jumpy and distracted. Treating the minor wounds of the Ares and Athena campers from morning sparring practice only made him feel useless again.

Eventually Kayla snapped and told him he had to leave before he gave himself a panic attack.

Will returned to Cabin Seven and sat on his bunk, trying desperately not to think about whatever Nico might be doing right now.

_-_

_Nico_

Nico returned to camp with his stomach (and backpack) full of Sally Jackson's blue cookies. He shadow travelled directly to infirmary.

Will wasn't there.

"Hey" Nico said to Kayla as he came through the door, somewhat out of breath from rushing. He made his way to the supply cabinet just inside the door, grabbing himself a KitKat alongside a dose of unicorn draught (one of their last doses left over from before they lost contact with New Rome).

Kayla looked up warily from where she was administering burn cream to Harley on one of the beds. "Hi."

"Where's Will?" Nico asked, coming around to lean against the bed next to them.

"Hi, Nico!" Harley piped up with a wide grin.

"Hey, kiddo," Nico reached out to bump his fist, though his eyes were still on Kayla.

Kayla straightened up. She had a shrewd look on her face, as though unsure whether she was mad at him. Nico guessed he deserved that. He grimaced.

"Ok, Harley, you're all patched up." She said, standing back to let him go. He jumped up with a cheerful "seeya!", either unaware or unbothered by the tension between the two older demigods.

Kayla crossed her arms. "Will's not here." she said bluntly. "He wasn't feeling well."

Nico swallowed his mouthful of KitKat.

"Is he ok? I was going to come talk to him." he said.

"That depends. Are you planning on apologising?" Kayla raised an eyebrow, which made Nico wince.

"Yes."

Kayla gave him a twisted smile.

"Good. Then I think he'll be fine." She paused. "Are _you_ ok?" Her gaze seemed to soften now that Will's interests were taken care of. Nico smiled at that.

"Yeah. I'm better." He said.

"Good." She nodded. "Will's in our cabin."

Nico finished his KitKat and retreated shyly, slipping the unicorn draught in his pocket for later.

-

He knocked softly on the door of Cabin Seven and waited for Will's muffled "come in" before letting himself in.

Will was curled up on his bunk with his arms wrapped around his knees. When he saw it was Nico his brow creased into a frown. Nico couldn't tell whether it was from anger or from hurt. Probably both.

"Hi, Sunshine." Nico said quietly. Will's eyes flickered away at the use of the nickname.

Nico approached the bunk hesitantly but Will let him crawl up onto the bed beside him and lean against the wall, sitting side by side, their knees touching.

Will's head was bowed. He blinked rapidly, not daring to look up.

"Are you ok?" Nico asked out of habit, unsure whether or not to reach out and take Will's hand. Will swallowed.

"Not really." He whispered.

Nico inwardly flinched but forced himself to move in closer, pressing his shoulder against Will's. Thankfully, Will didn't pull back.

"I talked to Percy."

Nico watched Will's response carefully. But the anger he expected never came. Will bit his lip.

"What did he say?"

Nico's heart ached at the concern in Will's voice. Because that was Will all over, wasn't it. So kind, even when he was upset. Nico felt the ghost of a smile tug at his lips.

"He said he wouldn't come." said Nico. "But I shouldn't have asked, really."

Nico watched Will's jaw muscles clench and unclench. He cleared his throat and pushed on.

"It wasn't fair of me to ask that of him… and it wasn't fair of me to dismiss you, either."

Will closed his eyes. His lip trembled as his frown deepened. Nico shifted to wrap an arm around him and was relieved when Will leaned into his touch.

"You really hurt me, Nico." he whispered.

"I know." Nico replied softly. "I'm so sorry, Will."

Will turned his face and buried his nose against Nico's chest. Nico let his fingers trace gently up and down Will's arms.

They sat like that for a long time, wrapped up in each other. And Nico felt relieved to sit with him for a while. He felt guilt bubble uncomfortably in his stomach. He'd seen Will upset before, but never like this, and never because of something Nico had done. He closed his eyes and tried to remind himself what he'd realised when he was at Percy's. He pushed away the fear of losing Will and instead focused on how warm Will felt against his chest, how safe and comfortable he felt sitting here, with Will's arms around his waist. He focused on that and nothing else while Will steadied his breath.

"It was so stupid of me to doubt you." Nico said eventually. The memory of Nico's silence from yesterday rested uncomfortably between them. Will didn't look up from Nico's chest, though he seemed calmer than before.

Nico thought of the way Will had saved lives under fire at the Battle of Manhattan and the way he'd stopped crowds and weaved through crowds of enemies in the Battle at Half Blood Hill. He remembered thinking that he'd never seen anyone put such unswerving trust in his fellow demigods before. The most loyal and the most reliable camper in the field.

"The truth is" Nico murmured, "I always thought you were amazing in battle."

Will straightened up and rolled his eyes. "No you didn't."

"I did." Nico insisted. "I've always thought… You're so amazing, Will."

Will shrugged. "I'm just a healer."

"The _best_ healer." said Nico. "The best _combat_ healer. The best in a _generation_."

"You don't know that." Will mumbled.

"I do. Everyone knows it." Nico said. He reached up to cup Will's cheek in his palm. "I'm just so scared of losing you, Will."

"I'm scared of losing you too." Will's voice trembled. "Every time I think about how bad things have got for you lately, and how much worse they might get if you have to be alone down there again I-" Will cut off, unable to say it out loud.

Nico was quiet for a long time, thinking of what Percy had said to him earlier that day. He didn't move his hand from Will's face.

"When I spoke to Percy," Nico began, "He told me about when he and Annabeth were in Tartarus."

Will glanced up, apprehensive.

"He told me that when he was down there, he was afraid of himself sometimes. That Annabeth was afraid of him too. The way he used his powers…" Will's eyes widened at this, and Nico reached out with his spare hand to squeeze Will's as he went on. "It made me think about you."

"Me?" Will frowned at him.

"Yeah. It made me think about how you've never been afraid of me." Nico said. Will's eyes softened into a smile. "You've never been afraid. Even when I shared with you the worst things that I've done and… and even when I've _tried_ to scare you-" Nico broke off with a half-hearted laugh. His hand was still on Will's cheek, his thumb brushing his jaw. Will bit his lip to hold back a grin.

"It also made me think about how… good you are." Nico breathed.

"Good?" Will raised an eyebrow.

"You're the best person I've ever met, Will. You're so kind. And selfless. And… I've never met anyone who cares about things like you do. You're so, so good, Will. And when I'm with you, I feel like maybe I could be good too." As he spoke. Nico felt his heart flutter with nerves and embarrassment and overwhelming joy that he got to call Will his boyfriend. Will gazed back at him with round eyes. His cheeks burned red.

Nico had thought that Will being the most thoughtful, generous person he'd ever met was a reason _not_ to let him come to Tartarus. He couldn't imagine someone so good in such a horrible place. But really, he should have been thinking of those things as exactly the reasons why he was the _best_ person for Nico to have fighting at his side.

"I guess I realised that… I could never be afraid of you. Everything about you - about _us_ \- makes me feel so safe and… I would be lucky - I _am_ lucky - to have you with me."

"Nico…" Will blinked rapidly and pulled Nico towards him, wrapping his arms around his back and holding him tighter than he'd ever held Nico before.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you." Nico mumbled against his chest. Will just gripped him even tighter.

"You're not going to lose me." He said firmly, threading his fingers through Nico's hair and cradling the back of his head. "I'm not leaving you."

"I'm not leaving you, either." Nico said. Will let out a breath.

"Good." He said. His voice was suddenly a million times lighter.

Nico finally let himself smile for real and closed his eyes, running his fingers lightly against Will's back. They spent another few minutes holding each other in silence.

"You know I still think you shouldn't rush into anything." Will murmured, pulling back to meet Nico's eyes and gently brushing his hair away from his face. "I still think you need to be more sure about these voices before we decide to do anything."

Nico nodded, his attention still half lingering on the way Will's fingertips felt against his scalp.

"But when I figure that out, you'll help me?" Nico breathed.

"Of course I will." said Will.

Nico smiled, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Good." he said heavily, thinking of the book he'd been poring over last night, now tucked into his backpack alongside the plastic container filled with freshly baked blue chocolate chip cookies. And he opened one eye to peek up at Will in apprehension. "Because I think I found a way into Tartarus without my father knowing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just my love letter to Will Solace 💛
> 
> You can read Nico's conversation with Percy in part three of this series 'Between You and Everyone Else' (Chapter Four - Percy). It's pretty angsty :)
> 
> Thanks again to all the lovely people sending me feedback on this fic. It has been so soothing to write and I'm not planning on stopping any time soon. Still taking prompts for new chapters if there are Solangelo moments that you'd like to see. I can't promise anything but I do love hearing what you guys want to read! I'm thinking for the next few chapters I'll rewind back to the early days post-three-days-in-the-infirmary. Or might even try to write something Christmassy feat. Naomi!


	20. The infirmary - day three (afternoon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mmm, Nico di Angelo" Will mused, unable to keep a straight face, "The Son of Hades, Lord of Darkness. The edgiest of demigods and yet somehow also best friends with the heroes of Olympus; the smartest, funniest and most well-known kids at camp."
> 
> Nico rolled his eyes so hard it was almost painful.
> 
> "You are ridiculous." 
> 
> -
> 
> Nico finishes up his stay in the infirmary. Nico POV.
> 
> ~continues from chapter 11 (also takes place directly after 'Cecil & Lou Ellen' chapter from part three of this series, Between You and Everyone Else, although reading that fic is not necessary for this chapter!)~

_Nico_

Will appeared at Nico's bedside with a bright smile that Nico was beginning to realise was a near constant expression for him.

To Nico's frustration, his heartbeat quickened having Will at his side. He managed to maintain eye contact without blushing even when his thoughts raced against his will, noting the way Will's tanned skin seemed to glow in the afternoon sun, and the deep blue of his eyes, and the curve of his arms under his scrubs.

"I hope Lou Ellen and Cecil weren't bothering you earlier," Will said, gesturing at the infirmary door. Lou Ellen and Cecil had spent the morning sitting cross-legged on the bed next to Nico, chattering away at him at breakneck pace.

"Why would they bother me?" Nico asked.

"I… I dunno. I guess I just figured you liked your alone time." Will shrugged. He looked a little uncomfortable as he spoke, perhaps uncertain about whether Nico would be offended.

Nico tried not to frown. He _did_ find big groups overwhelming sometimes… But he didn't _want_ to be alone all the time.

"No it was fine." He told Will. "It was nice."

"Right," Will said hurriedly. "Of course. I guess I just also… They make fun of me a lot." Will's cheeks coloured as he talked, which was adorable. He was obviously wishing he hadn't said anything. Nico held in a laugh.

"Yeah, they did a lot of that." He admitted. Will groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Nico tried not to think about how pretty his curls looked as his fingers brushed through them.

"Honestly, they shouldn't be allowed in here." Will grumbled.

"I mean, there was a medical emergency." Nico pointed out, referring to the incident in which Cecil had fallen off the lava wall and crashed into the infirmary with blood all over him.

Will rolled his eyes.

"Should've just let him bleed out." He muttered.

Nico did laugh then. The sound seemed to startle Will and he turned to look at Nico, blue eyes wide and gorgeous. Nico looked away to avoid staring.

"Anyway, I'm glad they didn't scare you off." Will joked.

"Nope." Nico said. "Wouldn't want to disobey my doctor."

"Exactly." Will grinned.

Nico suppressed his smile as Will stepped forward to conduct his final check over Nico's arms and shoulders. He was pretty much healed now, Will informed him, though the cuts were going to scar after being left so long without proper healing or nectar.

Nico tried not to get flustered at having Will so close to him again. He knew Will was only doing his job. And he _really_ didn't want to get sucked into having another crush at camp. (The last time that had happened it had led only to him feeling miserable and isolated).

Granted, it wasn't anywhere near that stage with Will. In fact, he supposed the feelings he'd been having when Will was around had mostly felt _nice_ so far. There was a kind of warmth to every interaction between them and when it was just the two of them, Nico felt as if the space between them was static; the air around them filled with energy. And sometimes, Nico could even convince himself that Will felt it too…

But no. Nico was determined that those feelings be short-lived. He barely knew Will and he certainly didn't know if Will was interested in dating, let alone dating a guy, let alone dating _him_. Nico had resolved to stay at camp for himself, not for anyone else. And that included cute, healing sons of Apollo.

It was more than that though, Nico knew. If he was being really honest with himself.

These new feelings scared Nico, a little. He knew that if he told Jason about this he would probably tell him that he didn't need to be afraid. And he was working on it - he really was. Telling Percy and Annabeth about his crush on Percy had gone pretty well, all things considered. But Nico had resolved to give himself a few more weeks to let that gossip spread around camp and see how he felt about things then before letting himself properly examine his feelings for Will. For now, it was best to ignore them as much as he could.

Will was just finishing up with removing Nico's bandages when the very person Nico had imagined talking to appeared; Jason grinned at him, his glasses lopsided and his hair wet from swimming in the lake.

He greeted Nico and Will cheerfully. Nico hurriedly pulled a shirt over his newly unbandaged shoulders, knowing Jason suspected that something was going on with him and Will. Will waved at Jason, unconcerned.

"How are the arms?" Jason asked, wisely overlooking the mortified expression on Nico's face.

"As good as new, basically." Will answered, when Nico didn't reply right away.

Nico scowled, to Jason's apparent delight.

"Good to hear. Hey, did Nico ask you guys to join our team for capture the flag?"

Will cast Nico a curious glance and Nico's eyes widened. He had forgotten in the flurry of activity last night.

"Guessing that's a no. It's an Aphrodite, Jupiter and Hades alliance so far. You in, Solace?"

"Sounds good to me." Will grinned. "If I can catch Cecil and Lou Ellen I might even be able to rope Hermes and Hecate into the equation."

"Perfect." Jason's eyes flashed behind his glasses. "We don't want Clarisse getting hold of Lou Ellen before us. Hecate and Ares together are a nightmare."

"I think Cecil said he and Lou Ellen would be in arts and crafts this afternoon." Nico piped up.

"Excellent. I'll see if I can convince Kayla to go find them." Will backed off to leave Jason and Nico alone, scanning the infirmary to see which of his siblings were around with other patients. Jason watched him go with a funny kind of smirk.

 _Don't say anything._ Nico prayed silently. But Jason just sat on the edge of his bed with a curious smile.

"I think Piper might be swinging by soon with Percy and Annabeth." He said, once Will was out of earshot. "Thought I'd come ahead to make sure you were cool with that."

Nico's chest warmed and he felt a spike of affection for Jason, despite the rush of embarrassment that came with having to be looked out for like that.

"Of course." He said, nonchalant. He glanced around them, making no one was within earshot or listening in. "I uhh… talked to Percy about- you know… already. And Annabeth."

Jason nodded, looking unsurprised.

"I wondered." He said.

Nico frowned and Jason's eyes widened in sudden panic.

"I didn't say anything!" he said hurriedly. "-and neither did they! I just had a feeling when they mentioned coming to visit…"

Nico's stomach untwisted. He was starting to think maybe he wouldn't mind his friends knowing but he still hated the idea of them all talking about it behind his back.

Jason was watching him carefully, chewing his lip.

"How did it go?" He asked Nico. "Telling Percy I mean."

"It was… fine." Nico attempted a smile. "I don't think he's mad at me. And Annabeth seemed cool with it."

"I knew they would be." Jason smiled. "I'm proud of you, man. For telling them. I mean not that it would matter if you weren't ready to tell them but like, the fact that you-"

"It's ok." Nico interrupted, smiling for real. "Thanks, Jason."

"I think things will get better." Jason said. He seemed earnest and sincere. Nico hoped he was right. "I wanted to say, as well, after we spoke yesterday…" Jason continued. "About when Percy was still missing… during that time when you knew about both camps. I'm really sorry for not trusting you. On the Argo II, when you were in Rome, I… I messed up."

"Jason." Nico said sternly. Jason met his gaze, uncertain. "Honestly, it's alright. A lot has happened since then."

"I know that." Jason agreed. "I just wanted you to know that I regret how I acted."

"Thanks." said Nico. "I appreciate it."

There was an awkward silence, and Nico was almost glad when it was interrupted by Piper, Annabeth and Percy entering the infirmary.

"It's getting quieter in here. Almost finished your sentence, di Angelo?" Piper asked. She flashed him a breezy smile. Nico rolled his eyes.

She, Annabeth and Percy crowded round the end of his bed, despite the fact that Nico wasn't really bedridden anymore. Piper hopped up onto the foot of the bed with him. She looked a little brighter today than she had the last two times she'd stopped by, though Nico could still tell from the bags under her eyes that she hadn't been sleeping much.

Like Jason, Annabeth and Piper both had wet hair. Percy of course was dry, though Nico noticed he seemed alert and invigorated in the way that he usually was after swimming. Usually, Nico realised, this kind of observation would be unnerving for him. He used to notice that sort of thing all the time and drive himself crazy thinking about it later. Now the observation slipped out of Nico's mind as easily as it had slipped into it. Something he'd noticed out of habit, not out of obsession.

"I guess camp the rest of camp is getting back to normal too, huh?" Nico said.

"Pretty much." Annabeth shrugged. "With the Romans gone and almost all the damage to the camp fixed up, Chiron said our regular activity schedules should start up again tomorrow."

"Have you guys not caught up with your families after the quest?" Nico asked, glancing from Annabeth to Piper to Percy.

"I spoke to my dad on the phone at the Big House." Piper said, "but he doesn't know about all this." She gestured around them lazily. "So it didn't make sense for me to go back right away. If we arrange a visit to Camp Jupiter later in the summer I'll take a week off to see him then."

"Same for me," Annabeth chipped in. "My dad knows about camp but I'm used to being here most of the time."

Nico turned to Percy, who blushed slightly under Nico's gaze. Nico tried not to cringe. He hoped he hadn't messed things up between them… especially considering things were never great to begin with…

"I visited my Mom a few days ago." Percy said from where he stood at the foot of the bed. "I'll probably go visit again at the weekends…" He trailed off with an awkward half-smile. Annabeth rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder against her boyfriend's good-naturedly.

"You should've seen Sally's face when he showed up at their apartment." She smirked at Nico and launched into an animated retelling of Percy reuniting with his family and nearly giving his parents a heart attack. Nico couldn't help but smile, picturing it. As Annabeth spoke, Percy seemed to relax.

"Mom asked about you." Percy added, his nerves sliding away and his face smoothed into his usual grin as he looked at Nico. "The last she heard from us you were trapped in Rome. She says she's glad you're back home and safe."

Nico's heart lifted at that. He met Annabeth's gaze with a grateful smile.

The four of them chatted a little about how the infirmary had been and how camp recovery was coming along. Nico told the others about the incident with Cecil the night before and the mystery of Kana, the Roman girl who had yet to wake up since the battle.

"I hope they figure out what's wrong with her." Piper said.

Nico glanced across at Kana with an anxious frown.

"Will said Chiron thinks they need Mr D's help." He said. "But he still hasn't returned to camp."

"I wonder why" Annabeth said worriedly.

Percy scoffed. "What do you mean you wonder why? Mr D hates it here!"

"Well yeah, but he's bound to camp for at least 50 more years." Annabeth insisted. "It's his punishment from Zeus! Why would Zeus let him stay away?"

"Maybe they think he's done enough after overseeing the camp through two wars?" Piper suggested.

Nico glanced at Jason who, like him, appeared entirely unconvinced by this suggestion. Neither of them were under any illusions that Zeus would be willing to go easy on a punishment.

Nico wondered if Jason was still worried about Apollo. He resolved to talk to Will about it at the next opportunity he had.

As if Nico's thoughts had summoned him, as he imagined he had with Jason before, Will returned to the foot of Nico's bed.

Perhaps this is what staying at camp was going to be like, Nico mused; having friends showing up whenever he so much as thought about them.

"Apollo, Hecate and Hermes cabins confirmed!" Will announced.

Jason perked up immediately.

"Yes!" He pumped the air with his fist. "It is on, Chase!"

Annabeth stared between Jason and Will. Nico could already see her thoughts racing; calculating and strategising with this new information. Percy on the other hand looked affronted.

"What? When did this happen? You can't just add three extra cabins to your team! It's only been a day! And hey, I'm one of the team leaders too! So you should be saying, 'It is on, _Jackson_ and Chase.'"

Nico snorted. "Keep dreaming, Jackson."

"Yeah and as for your _team_ ," Piper put in, "While you and Annabeth have been busy fighting for leadership with Clarisse, _we've_ been using our new recruits to form extra alliances."

"Yep." Jason crossed his arms, looking smug. "Hades and Apollo; our diplomatic dream team."

Will looked delighted at this new pronouncement. He flashed Nico a brilliant smile that made Nico's heart flutter.

Percy meanwhile gave Will a deeply suspicious glare.

Annabeth jumped to her feet then, her face fixed with her own resolute expression.

"Come on, Percy. I think we need to reconvene with Clarisse." She grabbed Percy's hand and tugged him out of the infirmary after her, Piper and Jason sniggering at their backs.

Will turned to Nico. He appeared surprisingly unflustered having just been stared down by Percy Jackson.

"So, Di Angelo, you up for a few more infirmary tasks before I discharge you this afternoon?" He asked.

"Sure." Nico jumped to his feet, glad to have something to do that involved standing up.

"Need any help?" said Piper. Jason's eyes lit up and he nodded eagerly at Will.

Will looked pleased. "If you want! I'll get you guys some supplies to sort."

-

It was the best afternoon Nico had spent at camp since the battle at Half Blood Hill. Maybe even the best afternoon Nico had _ever_ spent at camp.

He, Jason, and Piper worked in the infirmary for the next few hours. Will and Kayla bantered with each other good naturedly and occasionally roped the three of them into their jokes. Nico spent some of the afternoon sitting side by side with Piper as they reorganised a cabinet. He had a proper catch up with Jason when Will sent them across camp to take the bags of used scrubs to the laundry room. And he spent some time shadowing Will too, cutting bandages and talking to the various other campers. Every now and then Will explained to Nico what he was doing and why, throwing Nico little smiles and always looking a little surprised when he looked up to find Nico actually paying attention.

At around four o'clock, Jason and Piper headed out, arranging to meet up with Nico at the dining pavilion for dinner. Kayla signed off too and Nico hung back to finish up the days tasks with Will. It was the end of his prescribed three day stay and he wanted to make sure they got to chat before Nico went back to whatever his 'regular' camp routine was going to be.

Jason and Piper hadn't been gone long when Nico glanced over at Will to find him laughing.

"What?" Nico asked suspiciously.

"Oh nothing," Will said, though his eyes were glinting with something Nico couldn't place. "I was just thinking about how you seem to have a lot of visitors for someone without any friends."

Nico scowled. "Shut up, Solace."

"Mmm, Nico di Angelo" Will mused, unable to keep a straight face, "The Son of Hades, Lord of Darkness. The edgiest of demigods and yet somehow also best friends with the heroes of Olympus; the smartest, funniest and most well-known kids at camp."

Nico rolled his eyes so hard it was almost painful.

"You are ridiculous." He informed Will.

Will snickered at him, though his smile was sincere. "Seriously though. I've been thinking" He said.

"Dangerous" Nico quipped. Will smirked but otherwise ignored him.

"I'm really glad you stuck around in the infirmary with me these past few days. I know I was a little pushy at first."

Nico paused, shifting uncomfortably.

"It's ok." Nico said.

"Good. Because I just wanted you to know…" Will struggled with words for a moment, something Nico had never witnessed him do. "You know, the Romans said to you, up on the hill… they asked what the Greeks had offered you, to make you stay. I just wanted you to know that staying here isn't meant to be something that's _offered_ … It's…" Will sighed. "You have a right to be here, you know that, right? And you deserve it."

Nico stared intently at his hands, clasped together.

"I used to think that was a load of garbage." He admitted. "But I've realised that… if I don't get better at asking for help, I might not always get it. And…" he thought of Reyna, and Jason. "Sometimes I need a lot of help."

Will smiled.

"Well. Good thing you've got a lot of friends, huh?" He said, nudging Nico with his elbow. Nico rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Thanks, Will." he said. "I'm glad we're friends."

Will grinned wider than ever.

"Me too." He said brightly.

There was a beat of silence. Nico held Will's gaze. Then-

"Well I'm glad the infirmary will be back to normal soon." Will said. "I'm excited for regular camp activities. Will I see you at training tomorrow?"

"Percy wants to teach me and Jason some canoe stuff - the Apollo cabin could join us?"

"Sounds perfect!" Will grinned and Nico thought that maybe this perfect afternoon might be just the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this chapter half-finished in my draft documents for months. Seemed like a good one to polish off to ease me back in for some holiday writing. 
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who left prompts in the comments last chapter! It was so lovely hearing from so many of you. There were definitely some elements from those prompts that I incorporated and thought about when writing this chapter.  
> Particularly this one from a guest commenter: "Nico and Will (but mostly Nico bc it doesn’t come naturally to him) getting used to kissing/intimacy in general as they start exploring more bc that shit is awkward and cute and I’m obsessed. Also any more chapters of them stressing over how attracted to the other they are (before or during their relationship) are always welcome <333333"  
> I'll try and write more on this prompt too in future chapters! 
> 
> I have made a note of all the prompts you guys have made and will happily jot down more - I'll do my best to incorporate as many of them as I can :) :) :)
> 
> Happy New Year to you all if I don't end up posting anything else before Friday!


	21. Praetor / Hunter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hazel that's… that's amazing." said Nico.
> 
> "Thanks." Hazel smiled, though she doesn't look particularly happy. She glanced around the room, like she was nervous or something. Something horrible slid down Nico's throat and settled in the pit of his stomach. Fear.
> 
> He swallowed.
> 
> "So what… What happened with Reyna?" He struggled to keep the worry out of his voice but could tell from the panic on Hazel's face that he had failed. She opened and closed her mouth several times, twisting her hands in her lap.
> 
> "I… You know, I think you should talk to her yourself." She struggled to get out. "I'm sure she's dying to hear from you. Send her an iris message."
> 
> -
> 
> Nico finds out that Reyna has joined the Hunters. Both Nico & Will POV.
> 
> *Light spoilers for Tower of Nero in this chapter*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~Takes place two days after the events of Tower of Nero~

_Nico_

"Morning, Sunshine."

Nico woke to the feeling of Will's lips on his forehead. The familiar sounds of the Camp infirmary curled around his ears. He blinked sleepily up at Will, trying to remember where he had been when he fell asleep.

A vague memory of Will refusing to let him shadow travel back to camp and Nico refusing to travel in the Camp Half Blood mini vans came to mind. Had they driven back with Jules-Albert? That seemed to fit, Nico thought hazily, with an image of Rachel sitting shot-gun and Meg waving goodbye on the steps of the Tower of Nero floating into his mind.

Will pressed some chocolate into his hand.

"You're pretty much healed. Quickest recovery time, yet." He grinned.

Nico sat up and looked around. It seemed to be about mid-morning. The infirmary was busy, though not nearly as crowded as it had been the last time he'd been recovering from a battle. Nico felt remarkably well-rested, though he still felt hollow from Apollo's departure.

He leaned back against his pillows, thoughts of fighting and Nero and Jason bringing back the swirl of whispers and voices that murmured almost constantly in the back of his mind lately, reminding him that this fight may be over, but his own quest was not.

"What's the time?"

"Eleven." said Will. He settled down in the seat at Nico's bedside, apparently in visitor mode rather than doctor mode, despite the bustle of other injured campers and Apollo kids rushing around behind him. Nico felt something loosen in his chest at the sight.

"Have you heard from Apollo?"

"No. But he's ok. At breakfast this morning the Apollo table was covered in yellow daisies from Delos. There was a note, too." Will smiled. He took a square of parchment from his pocket and showed Nico. The paper had a silvery hue, though the writing glittered gold.

_'He's safe.'_

"That's great." Nico said.

He could hear the strain in his voice. He was happy that Apollo was ok, of course, but his stomach still twisted at the realisation that it must have been Artemis who sent the message.

Will tucked the note very carefully in his pocket once more, then reached to take Nico's hand.

"How're you feeling?" He asked gently.

"Ok." said Nico. "Really." He added, when Will looked unconvinced.

"Well I have some good news." Will turned to the table beside Nico's bed and picked up Nico's phone.

Nico was one of the only campers allowed to use a phone. Chiron let him have it on the condition that he only use it from within the camp borders. Before the communications shutdown he had mainly used it to text Reyna who, as Praetor, had access to an old iPhone Camp Jupiter issued as an "essential device to be shared by the two Praetors for official camp business only".

Mostly, Reyna and Nico's "official camp business" consisted of quotes from TV shows and rants about whoever in their respective camps had made them the maddest that day.

"It seems like the lift on the communication has finally hit New York." Will said, passing the phone to Nico.

Nico's heart leapt at that. He pressed the on button on the phone to see the home screen flash: _54 notifications_

Nico smiled incredulously, pressing the home button with one hand and squeezing Will's fingers with the other.

Will grinned fondly back at him and watched as Nico began to swipe through his messages.

There were several texts and calls from when communication had first broken down: some normal messages that had been sent before anyone realised what was wrong and other panicked messages as they realised the connection was failing. Nico's heart clenched, seeing Jason's name among the notifications. He quickly swiped those messages away, deciding he would come back to them later, when he was ready. Instead, he scrolled to more recent messages. There were some from a few weeks back; obviously sent just after Apollo and Reyna had freed the silent Goddess, and a few from before that too.

**2 May. 12.53pm. Unknown Number.**   
_Hey, it's Piper. Texting from my Dad's phone. I know comms still aren't working but as soon as they are again please call me. I'm back in Oklahoma. Call at this number or with Iris. Hope you and Will are ok._

**7 May. 11.13pm. Reyna** 🚨 **"important texts only"** ‼️ _  
Hey stranger. Apparently communication is still down where you are but my phone is working again. lending my phone to Hazel for a while. Can't wait to hear from you. iris message me as soon as you can. have missed you. Rx_

 **8 May. 12.02am. Reyna** 🚨 **"important texts only"** ‼️  
 _Nico! It's Hazel. Comms are back at CJ. Let me know when you get this. Hope you're ok._

 **5 June. 10.31am. Reyna** 🚨 **"important texts only"** ‼️ **  
** _Hazel here, again. I can't wait to speak to you. Iris message me as soon as you get connected in NY. Love you._

 **7 June. 6.47pm. Annabeth** 🤓  
 _Hey, arrived safe in New Rome. Comms are back on here, not sure if they have reached you yet. Call us when you can._

 **7 June. 6.52pm. Reyna** 🚨 **"important texts only"** ‼️ _  
Percy & Annabeth just got here. They said comms are still down for you. Hopefully we'll hear from you soon. If you get this, iris message me!_

 **8 June. 11.16pm.**  
 _Missed call - Reyna_ 🚨 _"important texts only"_ ‼️

Nico looked up at Will with what he guessed must be a dazed expression. His pulse raced with sudden excitement. He felt lighter than he had in weeks looking at these messages. Will watched him, blue eyes full of pride, like Nico reading text messages from his friends was some kind of ground-breaking achievement.

Hands shaking, he opened the text chain with Reyna and started typing.

**9 June. 10.38am.**   
_Hey Praetor. Comms are back. Fought Nero with Apollo yesterday. Everyone safe. Going to iris message Hazel in 5. Speak to you then?_

Will squeezed his hand.

"I can go back to my cabin, right?" Nico said, not stopping to hear his answer. He jumped out of bed and started scrolling back up through the chain of texts to re-read Reyna's messages from throughout the past few months.

Will chuckled, entirely unconcerned that Nico was ignoring him. He stood up to kiss Nico's cheek, momentarily distracting Nico from his phone. Nico blushed up at him.

For the first time since before Jason's death, the roar of the voices in Nico's ear faded away completely.

Will was beaming at him. Nico wondered if the giddiness in his boyfriend's smile was to do with the battle they had just won, his dad being alive or the fact that Nico was actively looking forward to talking to other human beings. Probably all three.

Nico was just thinking about pulling the infirmary curtains closed around them to kiss Will when his train of thought was derailed by an incoming text.

Nico glanced down at his phone then back up at Will, torn. Will laughed.

"Go call them." He urged, squeezing Nico's hand one last time. "I'll catch up with you at the end of my shift."

Nico grinned and rushed out of the infirmary, checking the message as he went.

 **10.41am. Reyna** 🚨 **"important texts only"** ‼️  
 _Nico! It's Hazel. So glad you're ok!!! Maybe call Reyna first? I've missed you so much. Can't wait to speak to you!_

Nico frowned, taking the stairs to Cabin Thirteen in one leap. He typed out a reply before pushing through the door.

**10.42am.**   
_You're still using Reyna's phone? Is she with you now? Going to call in a sec. Missed you too._

He slipped his phone in his pocket and looked around his cabin. There was a mess of junk from the bottom of his bag that he'd tipped onto his desk before packing for the trip to New York with Apollo. He sifted through it for some drachma and then grabbed the clear crystal Hazel had given him for Iris messages, holding it up against one of his lamps to make a rainbow across the floor of the cabin.

"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow. Show me Hazel Levesque at Camp Jupiter."

Hazel's face came into focus in front of him. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Nico, though she looked flustered too, as if she'd been running. Behind her Nico could make out what looked like the walls of the Praetorium. Nico grinned. He wondered if Reyna and Frank were there. Maybe Hazel ran across camp so they could talk to him together.

"Nico! Nico, you're alright! Oh my Gods, you're there." Hazel was practically bouncing.

Nico collapsed into his desk chair. Relief crashed over him as a weight he hadn't realised was there seemed to slide off his shoulders.

"It's good to see you." He croaked. Hazel's eyes sparkled with happy tears.

"It's been so long." Hazel gushed. "I missed you."

"I missed you too. So much." Nico's cheeks ached. "Gods, how are you? How's New Rome?"

"It's-" Hazel hesitated, looking around her. "It's ok. We're ok. Recovering." Her smile wavered slightly. "It was so horrible not being able to talk to you guys. Especially when…" She trailed off, swiping one hand over her eyes.

Nico swallowed. His eyes stung and he blinked a couple of times, willing his chest to ease up again. He stared down at his feet.

"Yeah." He managed. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there… For the f-" He cut himself off. He couldn't say it. Hazel sniffed and nodded anyway. "I… you're ok though." Nico changed the subject. He didn't want to talk about Jason yet. He wanted to stay in this moment of reunion a little while longer. "Where are Reyna and Frank?" he asked.

"Oh." Hazel paled. "Um, well Frank's running an archery session right now. He'll be sorry he missed you. Reyna… Um. Well, Reyna's not actually here."

Nico raised an eyebrow. His smile must have come across confused. "What do you mean she's not there? No Praetor duties today?"

Hazel hesitated. "Actually, I'm not sure how much Apollo told you but… Reyna stepped down as Praetor. After the battle."

" _What_?" Nico's jaw dropped.

"Yeah." Hazel laughed nervously. "So, uh, I'm Praetor now. Me and Frank together."

"Hazel that's… that's amazing." said Nico.

"Thanks." Hazel smiled, though she doesn't look particularly happy. She glanced around the room, like she was nervous or something. Something horrible slid down Nico's throat and settled in the pit of his stomach. Fear.

He swallowed.

"So what… What happened with Reyna?" He struggled to keep the worry out of his voice but could tell from the panic on Hazel's face that he had failed. She opened and closed her mouth several times, twisting her hands in her lap.

"I… You know, I think you should talk to her yourself." She struggled to get out. "I'm sure she's dying to hear from you. Send her an iris message."

Nico frowned.

"Well, where is she? Did she decide to go to college with Percy and Annabeth?" he asked.

Hazel shook her head. "I don't know where she is. I-" She stopped and tried for a reassuring smile. Nico felt his frown deepen into a scowl. Hazel let out a reluctant sigh. "You should just call her." She said. "You could call her now, probably, I think she'd be free to call."

"I don't-"

"Nico." Hazel turned suddenly stern. "Call Reyna. She'll explain everything. We can talk after."

Nico winced at her tone. The feeling in his stomach tightened around his insides, making him nauseous.

"Ok. Well. Goodbye, then?"

Hazel chewed her lip, unwilling to say goodbye even though it was her idea.

"Right." She attempted another smile. "It was good to see you. Call me after… and um, love you."

The feeling in Nico's stomach hardened, frozen solid.

"Love you too." He murmured.

The call cut off. He sat in the resulting silence, mouth hanging open and his former excitement settling on the ground around him like a blanket he'd shrugged off in his sleep. He looked down at the drachma on his desk, reluctant to reach for it out of some feeling of dread that he couldn't quite name.

Some of the whispering that had temporarily faded from his mind crept back up on him. He scowled and snatched up the drachma and crystal.

"O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano."

The backdrop that shimmered into focus at Nico's call was unfamiliar. It looked like some kind of forest. There was a crackle of what might be flames and high-pitched laughter from just outside the frame. Nico felt every muscle in his body tense.

Reyna was mid-stride, wearing black workout gear and a pale grey jacket. For a second, Nico thought he saw panic cross her face before her mouth split into a huge grin.

"Nico!" She cried out. She stopped in her tracks and beamed at him, drinking in the sight of him, cheeks flushed with sudden relief.

Nico frowned, more confused than ever. He tried to get a closer look at her surroundings, but it was pretty blurry. When Nico didn't say anything, Reyna's smile wavered. She tugged nervously at the sleeve of her jacket. The movement made the fabric catch in the light muted light around her and with a horrible jolt like he'd been punched, Nico realised that it wasn't grey, it was silver.

"Reyna." He managed to get out.

Concern and eagerness crowded Reyna's face. "How have you been? Tell me about the fight with Nero. Are you ok? How's Will doing?" The questions fell out in a rush, but as she talked all Nico could think about was the way the light around her was shifting, dappled by the trees around her. Her silver jacket glinted and shimmered. The ice in his stomach turned to poison. He tried not to panic.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"I-" Reyna looked hurt for a second. Probably because Nico was ignoring her questions. "I've been- well, I'll tell you in a second." She was hesitant now. "Have you spoken to Hazel yet? Did you get my message?"

"Yeah." Nico said slowly. "I- I got your text. My phone's been back online for about a day or so. But I've been in the infirmary. Some texts from Hazel came through too, from your phone. I called her, thinking you'd be there, but…"

Nico trailed off. Reyna's jacket glinted. A shout of laughter rang out from off to Reyna's side and Reyna's eye twitched. Nico took a deep breath and pretended that his stomach wasn't fighting a losing battle with a lump of poison.

"Reyna, what's going on? Hazel said that you're not praetor anymore. That you're not at camp at the moment. Are you- Are you with Hylla?"

"No, I ah- well that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Reyna's voice was stilted, but her nervousness abated as she talked. She took a deep breath. She sounded almost excited, but Nico's excitement at the thought of seeing her felt like a million years ago. "When Apollo was at Camp Jupiter, I realised something." Reyna said. "About me. I mean, you've always known how the praetor position was hard for me, and how I wasn't sure whether I wanted to keep doing it."

Nico felt the poison in his stomach rising up again. The voices behind his ears made his head throb.

"And then," Reyna kept talking, "in the fight against the Emporers, the Hunters of Artemis showed up and well, I got to meet Diana-"

"Reyna." Nico's voice shook. The mention of the Hunters had pushed him to the very edge of outright panic. Reyna cut off, the excitement in her eyes dying. Nico knew that should make him feel guilty but his heart was beating too loudly and his mind was moving too quickly for him to care. He set his jaw, determined not to let her know how terrified he was. When he spoke his voice turned cold against his will. "Where. _Are_ you?"

Reyna breathed in sharply. There was a moment of silence in which she stared at Nico with such concern that for a second Nico felt his resolve not waver. Fear hovered on his shoulder and threatened to spill out into the space between them.

And then-

"Reyna, everything alright?"

A new figure stepped into the frame. Nico's eyes narrowed in on the silver headband. The black t-shirt. The choppy haircut. Her blue eyes.

Jason's eyes.

Blood roared in Nico's ears. His hands curled into fists, fingernails digging into his palms so hard they drew blood. He forced himself to maintain some kind of composure but he could feel his face contort into a dark scowl.

"Oh. Hey, Nico." Thalia Grace smiled at him as if nothing was wrong, as if his appearance was a pleasant surprise.

"Thalia." Nico said tightly. He glared at Reyna as fiercely as he possibly could. Reyna swallowed.

"We just heard from Artemis about Apollo. Glad you guys made it through the battle alright." Thalia chirped. Nico clenched his jaw shut and tried not to scream. Thalia smiled at Reyna. "I'll let you guys catch up. Lady Artemis is leaving but she'll be joining us early tomorrow so we'll be back on the hunt again."

When she clapped Reyna on the shoulder Nico almost gagged.

"Nico…" Reyna said, as soon as it was just the two of them. She spoke in a hushed tone, careful, like he might attack her at any moment. Nico supposed that if he was there, maybe he would.

Dimly, he registered that the cabin around him was starting to shake.

"I have to go." He managed to choke out, raising a shaky hand up towards the picture. Reyna's eyes widened in panic.

"No- Nico, wait! Let's talk about this-"

Nico glared and slashed his hand over the image, feeling like if he looked at her for even one more second he might split in two.

The connection broke and Nico fell to the floor. And finally, finally, he let the panic and the voices take over, and opened his mouth to scream.

-

_Will_

The doors to the infirmary crashed open and Will snapped to attention in an instant.

"Will!" Ellis was standing in the doorway, chest heaving and eyes wild.

"What is it?" Will had passed off the bottle of nectar he'd been holding to Gracie without even looking.

"It's Nico!" Ellis panted.

Will's heart plummeted to his feet. "Where?" He asked, snatching up his emergency med kit and making it to the door with only a couple of strides. Campers and satyrs rushed to get out of his way.

"Cabin Thirteen." Ellis said breathlessly.

Will grabbed his arm and dragged him along as he broke into a run.

He swore when the cabins came into view ahead of them. Cabin Thirteen was cloaked in a kind of ethereal shadow. Tendrils of mist snaked out from the door and the windows. Grass blackened around the edges of the walls.

"What happened?" he snapped at Ellis.

"I don't know." Ellis stammered. "I wasn't there. I just heard yelling and when I got there it was like this so Malcolm told me to come get you."

"Was Malcolm there when it happened?" Will asked.

"I- I don't know. Has this happened before?" He stared up at the cabin as they approached, eyes wide with fear.

"Once. It's not as bad this time though." said Will.

"Last time it was _worse_?" Ellis looked incredulous.

 _Last time Jason Grace had just died._ Will ignored the fear that ran through his body at that thought and focused on the crisis at hand.

Three campers stood outside Cabin Thirteen, staring nervously up at the gathering shadows: Malcolm, at the foot of the stairs, his face grave and understanding. Harley, at Malcolm's side, eyes bugging out of his head in terror. Drew, at the door, yelling indecipherably and rattling the door handle.

Will let go of Ellis's arm and ran up to join her.

"Let me in, di Angelo, for Gods' sake!" Drew was yelling hopelessly. Charmspeak rolled off her tongue and Will was overcome with a compulsion to bust down the door so that she could get in. With a great deal of effort, he ignored it.

He pressed one hand against the door. Inside he could hear things crashing around and hitting the walls and Nico's voice cursing and yelling.

Will's chest ached. Drew looked pained and desperate.

"I don't think he can hear me." She told Will.

Will dropped his med kit to the floor and Drew stepped back to let Will try the door handle.

"Nico." Will called in through the door frame. He tried to keep his voice as gentle as possible. Tried not to let the panic seep in. "Nico, it's me. Can I come in?"

From inside there was a thud and a yell, followed by the sound of wood breaking. Will squeezed his eyes shut.

"Nico, baby, please let me in." He tried again.

The crashing inside stopped and there was a long pause.

"Nico?" said Will.

A shuffle. Movement on the other side of the door.

"Will?" Nico's voice croaked.

"I'm coming in, ok?" Will asked.

Another shuffle. A click. The door unlocked.

Will pushed it open as cautiously as possible.

Nico stood in the centre of the room, deflated. His sword hung limply in his hand. His desk and one of the unused bunks at the back of the room were almost completely destroyed. He lifted his chin up to look at Drew and Will, tears running down his cheeks. Without a word, Will took one step into the room and Nico rushed into his arms. Will held him close, one hand jumping instantly to bury itself in Nico's hair, the other rubbing his back. He checked quickly; no injuries, no physical ailments, no concussion. Just pain. Pain and grief.

Will pulled Nico into his chest and glanced up at Drew. An understanding passed between them.

Will carried Nico inside and moved them both to Nico's bed while Drew checked the cabin for any physical danger.

Nico was shaking silently against Will's chest and Will pressed his lips to the top of his head.

Drew began moving the debris from the desk and bunk, clearing the floor and reshaping the cabin into some semblance of normalcy at an alarming rate. Outside, Will could tell that the air had lightened around the cabin. Through the doorway he noticed that the grass was returning to its usual lush green.

Malcolm appeared in the open doorway, Harley hanging back behind him.

He didn't say anything, only raised his eyebrows at Will in a silent question. Will nodded but didn't smile. Malcolm grimaced.

"Will." Drew said from the corner of the room. Will and Malcolm turned to see her straightening up with a crushed object in her hands. She passed it to Will.

Nico's phone. The screen was completely smashed.

Will, Malcolm and Drew all exchanged a look. Will knew what both of them were thinking. He was thinking it too.

What news had Nico received from the West Coast this time?

But Will knew that the last time this had happened, Nico had been much worse than this. He had been sobbing. Inconsolable. Last time the news had been bad for everyone. They had all lost Jason. This time, Will had a suspicion that whatever had happened was a lot more personal.

He held the phone out to Malcolm and locked eyes with Harley, who was still standing hesitant in the doorway.

"Reckon you can fix this for us, kid?" said Will.

Harley took the phone from Malcolm and puffed out his chest. He nodded grimly.

Drew took a deep breath and then began to shepherd the other two out of the cabin.

"Ok, you two. Drama's over. Let's get back to training."

She gave Will a meaningful nod, and then she was closing the cabin door behind her. Will shot her a grateful look as she went and returned his attention to Nico.

-

_Nico_

For a while, they just lay there. Both of them tangled in each other's arms on Nico's bed. Nico taking deliberately deep breaths. Will rubbing slow circles onto his lower back.

Eventually, Nico shifted, pulling himself up into a sitting position and slumping against the wall. Will pulled himself up too and reached for Nico's hand.

"What happened?" Will asked.

But before Nico could answer, an iris message shimmered into focus in front of them. Reyna reappeared in the cabin. Silver hunter's jacket gone. Arms crossed. Her face was set into a determined scowl.

"Alright, di Angelo." She said in her Praetor's voice. "We have got to talk about this. Spit it out."

Nico saw Will's eyebrows climb into his hair at her tone. Nico doubted he'd ever seen Reyna talk to another camper like this before. Certainly not to Nico.

Nico wanted to be angry still. He opened and closed his mouth several times. But his energy from before wouldn't return. Especially not with Will at his side. Instead, he just felt tired.

"W-when did this happen?" Nico eventually forced out words, his voice strangled.

"Not long ago!" Reyna spoke hurriedly. It was as if she'd switched to the defensive the moment Nico showed he wasn't going to yell at her."It was after the battle, with Apollo. And Diana was there. And I didn't plan it necessarily, but I'd been thinking of stepping down as Praetor for a while and when I met the Hunters again I just… It felt right."

Nico's stomach churned.

"I can't - I don't…" His mind was reeling. He realised that his anger was still bubbling beneath the surface of every thought, tamped down by exhaustion and nausea. "How? _How_ could it feel right?"

Reyna sighed. "You've always known how hard it was for me in the praetor job. Especially recently. Being alone."

"You're not alone." Nico said. "You have Frank."

"You know what I mean." Reyna rolled her eyes. "It was isolating."

"What so because it was hard you just gave up?" Nico snapped.

Reyna gritted her teeth. "No. And I _know_ you're not calling me a coward, Nico."

Nico made an irritated sound in the back of his throat.

"It just doesn't make sense to me that it would feel right to leave just because-"

"Because I need some time to breath, Nico!" Reyna burst out. "Ok? There's so much pressure at Camp Jupiter to be the exact right fit. For the praetorship, for the Gods. And lately… I haven't been fitting…" She ran a hand over her face. And Nico saw that she was tired too. "…But I didn't want to give up fighting altogether. Joining the Hunt just… gives me some space to figure things out."

Nico was silent for a while. He tried to think of a way to explain it. To stop this from happening.

"You could have come here." He said quietly.

Reyna scoffed. "You really think that Camp Half Blood would be an easy place for me to fit in?"

 _No_. Nico couldn't help but think. _It isn't easy to fit in._ He wanted to say. _But I don't have any other options like you do._

Will had stiffened at his side. Nico knew he was sensitive about this.

"You're abandoning New Rome." Nico accused instead.

"Hazel is more than up to the task of replacing me." Reyna sniffed.

"I won't get to see you." Nico said. He hated that he couldn't keep the hurt out of his voice. Reyna's eyes softened.

"We barely got to visit each other at camp anyway." She said. "And I'll still get to drop by any time the Hunt comes near New York. And in the meantime there's no reason why we can't still Iris message?"

Her words sounded comforting. But Nico couldn't give in that easy.

"They won't let you talk to me. I'm a boy." He persisted.

"We're allowed to _talk_ to boys, Nico. The oath isn't that dramatic." said Reyna.

"They hate me." He said.

 _You hate me._ He thought.

"They don't _hate_ you." Reyna looked exasperated. "And besides, you're my best friend, Nico. I'm not going to let anyone else's opinion of you stop me talking to you."

Nico was silent. He wasn't sure what to think. He was still angry. Really, really angry.

"Look, we're heading into Indiana tomorrow. Maybe once we're done there I could visit?" Reyna shot him a tentative smile. "I could ask Thalia if it's ok?"

And there it was. He was almost relieved. He glared at her with as much venom as he could muster.

"Nico." Will warned under his breath. Nico ignored him.

"Well if _Thalia_ gives you her _permission_." He spat. Will tightened his grip on Nico's hand, but Nico barely felt it. Reyna closed her eyes and took a deep breath, steeling herself.

"Listen." Reyna ventured. "I know… I know that you never really forgave Thalia, after Bianca-"

"Don't!" Nico cut her off with a strangled yell. Tears jumped traitorously to his eyes. His pulse raced.

_How dare she mention Bianca in front of him._

"I just thought maybe if we talked about-"

"You are the _last_ person I want to talk to about Bianca right now." He breathed out slowly, dangerously, through gritted teeth.

"Nico…" Reyna's voice dropped to a broken whisper.

"I can't believe you would-" Nico choked on his words. "-and after Jason-" He stifled a desperate sob. Will's grip on his hand grew physically painful.

"I'm so sorry." Reyna said.

"No, you're not." Nico whispered. Reyna looked hurt.

"Nico, I am. I never meant to-"

"Then you shouldn't have left." Nico snapped. "None of you should have left."

"Nico." Reyna said helplessly.

Nico shook his head. He couldn't do this anymore. He reached out towards the message again with the hand that was not wrapped up in Will's.

"I'm sorry, Reyna." He said quietly. Though he wasn't really sure if that was true anymore. And for the second time that day he passed his arm through the message and watched as the image of Reyna faded away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've wanted to write this chapter for a long time. Hopefully I did it justice.
> 
> Thanks for everyone's love and prompts in the comments!! It's been a while since I wrote for this fic because I'm in the midst of drafting out a longer more cohesive story about Solangelo in Tartarus. (This chapter is kind of like a prequel to that). If you'd be interested in that or would be keen to hear updates about how I'm going with it throw some comments my way on tumblr (I'm toffrox33 there too)!
> 
> Speaking of tumblr, this fic was nominated for a Solangelo competition. If you enjoyed this story it would make me so happy if you voted! And also check out all the nominations for some really amazing Solangelo stories :)  
> You can vote here:
> 
> [Solangelo Fic Awards](https://toffrox33.tumblr.com/post/641958374703038464/image-description-two-digital-bust-drawings-of)


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